


More Than They Seem

by Warriorette12



Category: Danny Phantom, NCIS
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Ghost Zone, Murder Mystery, Originally on FanFiction.net, prison break - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 06:38:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7924465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warriorette12/pseuds/Warriorette12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Reality Trip and before PP. Danny, Sam and Tucker find themselves a part of an NCIS investigation and Gibbs is suspicious of Danny's behavior. And when Tony DiNozzo finds himself trapped in the Ghost Zone after touching a stray portal...well...sooner or later, everything is going to have to come out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hunter, Hunted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. This is shortly after Reality Trip in the Danny Phantom timeline.
> 
> 2\. This is randomly in between Seasons 6-9 in the NCIS timeline.

Prologue

_Danny Fenton, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley; three best friends on summer vacation. With nothing to do for the summer and a need to escape Amity Park, especially after their recent encounter with Freakshow, they decided that their summer could best be spent in the nation's capital, Washington DC._

_A few overshadowings here and there, and Danny, Sam and Tucker found themselves clinging to their seats for dear life as Danny's dad, Jack Fenton, sped across the American landscape. Little did the three teens know, a new adventure would suck them in and twist their lives in new ways. And it would begin at their destination…_

Chapter 1: Hunter, Hunted

"Okay, I've got to admit," Danny said, "We picked a pretty sweet place to vacation."

"Too many places to visit." Tucker said, clutching his PDA and going through a list of tourist sites. "And so little time. Good thing we're here for a week, huh?"

"You said it, Tuck." Danny said. He looked at his friends. "This is great: no more school, no more Freakshow and no more-." The three were suddenly blinded by a flash of green light. Looking down a nearby alleyway, the teens saw a hovering green shape that could only be a portal. "Ghosts?"

"I'm tracking a shape, moving quickly." Tucker said. "It's leaving the area."

"Maybe that's a good thing." Sam said, shrugging. She began to turn away.

"Wait!" Danny said. He held out a hand and, in the silence that followed, the teens could hear voices; whoever they belonged to sounded angry. A shot was heard, slashing the silence like a knife.

" _I'm going ghost!_ " Danny said. Two white rings appeared around his waist and transformed him. His once black hair and blue eyes were now white and green respectively. His legs turned into a tail and he quickly flew around the corner, in the direction of the voices.

"Uh, guys?" Danny called. Sam and Tucker rounded the corner and found themselves in a darker bend of the alleyway. Danny charged up a ball of ecto-energy and held it up as a light source.

Blood.

That was the first thing the kids saw; shiny, crimson, blood. A man was in the center of it, a hole in the front of his head. The man's eyes were open but unseeing.

"Creepy." Sam whispered.

In shock, Danny floated back down to the ground and transformed back to his human self, his mouth agape. "Guys?"

Tucker and Sam turned to look at him, both of them had serious looks on their faces.

"I think we've stumbled onto a crime scene."

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

"Morning DiNozzo, McGee, Ziva."

"Morning boss."

Leroy Jethro Gibbs, special agent of NCIS, walked through a doorway and into the NCIS office bullpen. He had a grim expression. "I just got a call."

"A murder?" ex-Mossad agent, Ziva David, asked.

Gibbs nodded and kept walking, headed for a nearby elevator. "Not far from here." Anthony DiNozzo picked up his camera and both agents stood up and followed their boss. Tony turned back to the last agent in the room, Timothy McGee, who was by his desk.

"Just…keep doing whatever, McGeek."

McGee, hearing his nickname, looked up from his laptop just as the elevator doors closed. He looked around, noticed he was alone, shrugged, and then went back to clacking away at his keyboard.

The drive took 15 minutes. They were outside the alleyway, alone, although they could all hear police cars in the distance.

"It's funny that we get the call after the police and arrive before them." Tony said, getting out of the sleek black car. "Do you think they were all on a lunch break and just had to finish eating?"

He looked back at Ziva, who smiled. Gibbs, however, was not amused. "Let's see what's going on."

They headed into the alleyway and turned a corner…only to find themselves looking at three kids. They all had their backs to them but they seemed to be teenagers.

"What are you three doing here?" Gibbs asked.

The three kids jumped in surprise and spun around. Two boys and a girl. The girl was wearing only black and purple. One boy was wearing green shorts and a yellow shirt. The other boy was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt and black hair.

"Aw, Gibbs, they're only kids." Tony said.

Tucker, who had turned around first, noticed Ziva standing behind the two men. He smiled and held out his hand to Ziva. "Hey, I'm Tucker Foley. That's TF, as in Too Fine!"

Sam snorted. "Tucker, I think you could be arrested for hitting on a cop."

"Well, we're not exactly cops," Tony said, trying to hold back laughter. He held up his badge. "NCIS."

Tucker immediately whipped out his PDA and pressed a few buttons. "NCIS? As in Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Security, counter-intel and counter-terrorism. Been around since 1992? "

Tony looked down at Tucker's PDA before turning to Ziva. "He's like a kid version of McGeek."

"Don't mind Tucker." The black haired boy said, rolling his eyes. "He's a techno-geek."

Gibbs also seemed amused, but his question hadn't been answered yet. "What are you three doing here? Who are you?"

Danny, Tucker and Sam, exchanged glances.

"We… we were walking down the street and we heard voices." Danny said. " We were curious and followed the voices until we heard a shot and found ourselves here."

"Did you see who fired the shot?" Ziva asked.

All three kids shook their heads. Danny gestured at Tucker. "To answer your second question, you've already 'met' Tucker." He pointed at himself and Sam. "I'm Danny Fenton and this is Sam."

"As in Samantha?" Tony asked. Danny laughed at this.

"Call her that today, and you'll wake up in a ditch tomorrow."

Tony stole a glance at Ziva, who was grinning at him. Yeah, she definitely liked this girl.

"We have more questions for you but we can take you back to our headquarters for those." Gibbs said. "C'mon."

"Wait." Danny said. "Did you guys see anything when you came in here.

"Like what?" Tony asked.

"Like a…green thing…floating in the air." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. Gibbs could tell that he was embarrassed.

"Why?" he asked.

Danny looked down. "No reason."

Gibbs, Ziva and Tony looked at each other. Each made a mental note to ask about this later.

_Danny is hiding something. Gibbs thought, And I'm going to get time to find out what._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This story is just a little something that I had posted on my fanfiction.net account that I decided to upload here, now that I've started using my AO3 account more (which, honestly, I'm surprised it took me so long to set up). Hope you all like it!


	2. Escaped

_Ding._

Danny, Sam and Tucker, closely followed by the NCIS agents, walked into the NCIS HQ. McGee, hearing the sound of the elevator, looked up and saw the three teens.

"Who are they?" he looked questioningly at Gibbs.

"Witnesses." Gibbs said. "I'll be right back." With that, he left the room.

Sam and Tucker waved at McGee. "Hi."

Danny, however, was looking around the office. _That portal didn't open for no reason_ , he thought. _Whatever opened that portal-_.

"Danny, what is it?"

He looked up to see Ziva watching him. "It's nothing."

Sam and Tucker were looking at him too. "Later." He whispered to them.

"So," Tony said, "Are you guys from around here?"

"No," Danny said. "We're here for summer vacation. Amity Park is our hometown."

"What's it like there?"

"It's…okay." Danny said, exchanging glances with his friends. McGee noticed this.

"Wasn't that the town that went missing for a few hours one day?"

Now Tony and Ziva also noticed the nervous glances that the teens gave each other. _What are they hiding? They're obviously nervous about something_ , each agent thought.

Danny, Sam and Tucker took a deep breath.

"It's also the most haunted town in the USA." McGee pressed on, watching their reactions.

This time, Sam and Tucker looked at Danny, who blushed slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, but froze and turned.

"What?" Tony asked, thinking that Danny was looking at him. Until the sound of laughter from behind him made him turn as well, pulling his gun out.

What he saw almost made him drop his gun. There was a man in an armored suit who was…floating. The man _literally_ had flaming hair that was electric green and green eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Ziva pull out her gun and point it at the man. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"I am Skulker," the man replied. "The Ghost Zone's greatest hunter." He then pulled out a gun-like weapon and shot at Danny.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker cried as Danny fell to the floor. But their friend was alright, the ecto-bullet had only grazed his side.

"Kids, get back!" Tony said, glancing behind him, only to find that they were gone. He spotted them hiding under a table, looking up at Skulker.

"Danny, do something!" Sam said from beside him.

"I can't go ghost with these guys here!" Danny replied, clutching his side. He was glad that his ghost powers allowed him to heal quickly but right now, he could only watch.

"Why do you have the ghost child here?" Skulker asked Tony.

"Ghost child?" Tony said, lowering his gun slightly, "Sorry buddy, Casper's not here."

"He is here." Skulker said, pulling out a glowing green sword, "I tracked him here."

"You're not hurting anybody else." Ziva said, she opened fire. The bullets zoomed harmlessly through the man and embedded themselves in the wall behind. Tony laughed.

"Gibbs is going to kill you, Ziva."

The man laughed. "Your silly bullets cannot hurt me."

Suddenly, a jetpack appeared on his back. "What?! I thought I fixed that!"

Before Tony or Ziva could ask what the man meant, he rocketed through the ceiling but turned invisible at the last second. From under the table, Danny and Sam high-fived Tucker.

"Thanks Tuck." Danny said as they climbed out from under the table. "Your tech has saved us again."

"I know." Tucker said, looking at his PDA lovingly.

Gibbs came through a doorway, holding a gun. "I heard gunfire! Is everyone okay?"

Then he put his gun down.

"Why the hell are there bullets in the wall?!"

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

"And that was when he disappeared."

Tony was just finishing his story about Skulker while Gibbs listened thoughtfully. Ziva, McGee and the three teens nodded in agreement.

"He kept asking for a ghost child?" Gibbs asked.

Tony nodded. "That's what Iron Man wanted."

"Where did he say he was from again?"

"The Ghost Zone."

Danny's thoughts were confirmed. _He must have gotten through that portal we saw!_ Danny thought. _But, the last time I checked, Skulker can't make portals to anywhere. So how did he get through?_

"Ghosts…" Gibbs said. "There are no such things. He could have been lying."

Danny and Sam shot Gibbs indignant looks. "What?" he asked.

"There are such things as ghosts. We happen to live in the most haunted place in the USA!"

"Amity Park." McGee said to Gibbs' puzzled look.

"Do you know who Skulker is?" Gibbs asked them.

"NO!" they said, firmly. Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "N-not personally." Once again, Tucker and Sam glanced at Danny.

"Okay then." Gibbs said, still unsure.

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

It was decided that the three children would stay at the headquarters, especially since Danny had gotten injured right after being at the crime scene; the NCIS crew thought that Skulker had something to do with the Navy SEAL's murder and that sending the children home would be too dangerous. The Fentons agreed.

Now, it was 5:00PM, half an hour since Skulker's appearance, and Danny was walking into the morgue with a sinking feeling. His shoulder had healed, his ghost powers making sure of that, but how was he going to explain himself. Gibbs was standing behind him.

"Time to meet Ducky, kid." He said.

Danny gulped and opened the door.

"Ah, Jethro." A short man said, turning from a body on the table. He saw Danny. "Who is this young lad then?"

"Ducky, meet Danny. Danny, meet Ducky."

"Um…" Danny said. _What doctor is called Ducky?_ "Hi."

"A man attacked HQ earlier and Danny got shot." Gibbs said. "I need to check something." He left.

Ducky led Danny to a nearby chair. "I thought I heard gunshots! Poor kid."

"Yeah, well…" Danny said, trailing off. He suddenly wished that Sam and Tucker were here with him; they were upstairs eating and had not been allowed to follow Danny and Gibbs.

Ducky lifted up Danny's shirt and gasped. Even though he had seen the boy with a bloodstain on his shirt, there was no sign of an attack on his skin. "What is this?" he asked.

"Um. He missed?" Danny said, grinning innocently.

"Well, I don't believe _that_." Ducky said. "You have a bloodstain on your shirt which is, most likely, yours."

"Oh." Danny said, his heart dropping even more. "Well, I guess I heal quickly."

Ducky looked at Danny oddly. "Are you okay, Danny?"

Danny noticed that he was breathing heavily and forced himself to slow down.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

After leaving Danny with Ducky, Gibbs went to find McGee. He found him at his desk, alone.

"McGee, did you find 'Fenton' for me?"

McGee looked up. "Jack and Madeline Fenton live in Amity Park with their two children Daniel and Jasmine Fenton. Jack an Madeline are ghost hunters."

"Ghost hunters?" Gibbs asked, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Ghost scientists more like. But they rarely catch ghosts."

"Oh." Gibbs said. " Anything about Danny and Jasmine?"

"Danny and Jasmine, who prefers to be called Jazz, both go to Casper High. Danny is in the 9th grade while Jazz is in 11th. She is planning on studying child psychology in college and is a straight A student."

McGee then paused and looked at Gibbs. "Danny's academic life is more...interesting. He used to do very well in school but his grades have dropped in the last few months. He's constantly excusing himself during class and disappearing."

"Drugs and truancy?"

"Maybe, but we can't be sure. He seems healthy for a kid his age. And you should have seen how fast his reactions were when he noticed the attacker."

"What?" Gibbs said, putting his coffee down. He hadn't heard this part of the story.

"Yeah, it was really weird. First, Danny was talking to me, then he stiffened and turned moments before we noticed the man for ourselves."

"Hmm…" Gibbs left the room, deep in thought.

_This kid…_

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

"How could some alleyway murderer be _this_ good?! No fingerprints, no dropped items, no nothing!"

Tony and Ziva were shining their flashlights around the alleyway and within a fifty meter radius of the scene. Nothing.

"Y'know," Tony said, giving up. "I'm beginning to think all this ghost stuff is real. Maybe our man was killed by a ghost."

"Tell that to Gibbs," Ziva said, "And he'll kill you."

As she said that, a loud noise was heard. A green shape formed out of thin air. The two agents stood there, stunned.

"What the hell is that?!" Ziva shouted.

A wolf's head appeared, making the agents jumped. When Wulf saw the two agents, he was confused. Where was Danny? He wanted Danny. Suddenly, he felt a hand grip his tail. "Helpi mi!" He screamed at the two agents.

All they could do was watch in shock as Wulf was pulled back through the portal. It then closed, leaving no trace that it was there. Tony turned to Ziva, his eyes wide with shock.

"Well _that_ was the weirdest thing I have _ever_ seen."


	3. Connections

_As she said that, a loud noise was heard. A green shape formed out of thin air. The two agents stood there, stunned._

_"What the hell is that?!" Ziva shouted._

_A wolf's head appeared, making the agents jumped. When Wulf saw the two agents, he was confused. Where was Danny? He wanted Danny. Suddenly, he felt a hand grip his tail. "Helpi mi!" He screamed at the two agents._

_All they could do was watch in shock as Wulf was pulled back through the portal. It then closed, leaving no trace that it was there. Tony turned to Ziva, his eyes wide with shock._

_"Well that was the weirdest thing I have ever seen."_

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

Tony and Ziva stepped out of the elevator. McGee was sitting at his desk, showing Tucker some new software that he had installed just days prior. Tony laughed at the way Tucker's face lit up like a light turning on at the flick of a switch. Tucker looked up, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Hi." he greeted them, "Did you find anything else?"

Tony and Ziva exchanged glances. With a nod, they silently agreed to only tell Gibbs; what they saw was too weird to tell just anybody.

"Er...nothing else. It's like the murderer is some kind of forensics genius. Apart from Abby, I mean..."

Ziva turned to Sam, who was leaning against her desk, watching the conversation. "Do you know where Gibbs is?"

Sam just shrugged. But no words were needed; Gibbs himself strode into the room, Danny tailing him.

Ziva noticed that Danny's focus went straight to his friends. The boy shook his head and Ziva saw Sam visibly relax out of the corner of her eye.

"Anything?" Gibbs asked.

"Um...Yeah," Tony said, glancing at Sam and Tucker. "Can we talk to you, Boss?"

Luckily, Gibbs knew when things needed to be private. He motioned for his agents to follow him and, as he left, McGee flashed the teens an apologetic smile.

"What's going on?" Danny asked, going beside Sam.

"That's what I'd like to know." she sighed. "It's something to do with the case…"

Then, she looked at Danny; her still-forming plan shone through her eyes and Danny shook his head. "No way Sam! I'm not doing it. This is NCIS we're dealing with."

"NCIS," Sam agreed. "Not the GiW. Besides, if anything happens, we have the Fenton Phones to communicate by. It's the perfect way to find out what's happening."

Tucker caught on to what she was saying. "Won't he get arrested if he gets caught?"

"He won't get caught."

"And why is that?"

Sam looked at Tucker as if he had gone mad. "Hello?! Ghost powers?!"

"I'm not doing it Sam." Danny said firmly.

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Danny groaned as he walked down the hallway. He was in his ghost form, invisible to the naked eye. Why did Sam always manage to convince him to do the most dangerous things? Tucker was right, if Danny got caught, he would be is BIG trouble. But he had to admit, he was curious to find out what had spooked the agents.

He hoped it wasn't Skulker again.

Danny heard voices coming through a door. Peeking his intangible head in, he saw Gibbs and the other agents.

Perfect.

Ziva was talking. "...and then suddenly, this green... orb thing appeared. As well as this dog thing…"

Gibbs, listening to her intently, suddenly remembered something that Danny had said after they had first met.

_"Did you guys see anything when you came in here? Like a…green thing…floating in the air?"_

Danny knew something. Gibbs didn't know what it was but, if this green thing was related to the case, he would find out. "What happen then?"

"This is where it gets weird boss." Tony piped up. "It actually _talked_ to us. Asking for help. Then it disappeared."

Danny's heart sank a bit. Now he knew why there were portals appearing in the alleyway and, frankly, he was glad it was his friend. But if Wulf was involved, so was Walker. Danny really didn't want to deal with the Ghost Zone law enforcer again.

"A…dog?!" McGee asked incredulously. "That talks."

"Trust me," Tony piped up, "It was _really_ strange. I was beginning to feel like Dr. Dolittle…"

"DiNozzo! Focus!" Gibbs snapped. He turned back to Ziva. "Are you sure of what you saw?"

Ziva nodded. "You'll have to see it to believe it."

"But you said it disappeared."

Gibbs stood up, slightly startling Danny. "It might return. We need to stake out the place. Maybe the killer is responsible."

Danny decided that he had heard enough. Phasing out of the room, he quickly found his friends and relayed the conversation back to them. As he spoke, Sam's triumphant grin grew wider and wider.

"I knew it!"

"Why were you so eager for me to spy anyway?" Danny asked, transforming back into his human self.

"Just a hunch," Sam said simply, folding her arms. "As far as we know, there is only one ghost who can get through the Ghost Zone into the Real World without using a portal."

Danny didn't bother to correct her; he didn't think that an evil version of himself counted, since he technically didn't exist anymore. At least in this timeline, Danny knew she was right.

"They also said that they would try to find the portal again." Danny shook his head. "We can't let them do that; what if they get into the Ghost Zone? How are we going to cover up a whole different dimension?"

Sam and Tucker didn't say anything, but Danny knew he was right.

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

Two sleek, black cars drove up and parked across the street from the alleyway in the dead of night.

"Alright, let's see what happens." Tony said, leaning back in the driver's seat. He didn't believe that anything would happen- and he really needed some sleep and was beginning to envy the three children sleeping back at HQ- but Gibbs' orders were meant to be followed. He could tell that Ziva was awake and alert beside him.

"Why do we have to do this? I don't think anything is going to happen."

So Tony wasn't alone on the skepticism. He just shrugged and the two agents sat in silence.

It was Gibbs who saw the movement first. He radioed his team to let them know and silently slinked out of his car. Removing his gun from his belt, he ran forward to get a closer look.

A figure with pure white hair stood with its back to him. It wore a black suit ( _great for sneaking around in the dark_ , Gibbs reasoned), and white gloves and boots.

"C'mon," the figure muttered, "Where are you Wulf?"

"Freeze!" Gibbs shouted. "NCIS!"

The figure stood still, its muttering ceased.

Then it slowly turned around.

Gibbs' eyes widened only a fraction, the only sign that showed he was surprised. The figure was a boy, a teenager. _What is he doing here?_

"Oh, come on," the boy groaned, "Not you guys!"

Danny found himself staring at Gibbs and mentally kicked himself for getting caught. But so far, so good; no sign of the portal. Maybe they would have given up and gone home, but noooo…he had to pique their interest by getting caught.

"Who are you?" Ziva said, appearing at Gibbs' side. Tony came up from behind her.

"Phantom." Danny said, feeling a bit more confident with his alias. "Danny Phantom." He held up his hands as a form of surrender.

At the sudden movement, Gibbs released the safety catch on his gun, but Danny only chuckled. "Bullets will just phase through me."

Tony shivered as he remembered what the ghost calling himself 'Skulker' had said: _"Your silly bullets cannot hurt me."_

"Okay…Danny Phantom," Gibbs was unsure. 'Phantom' wasn't a common name," Why are you here?"

Danny took a second to think. "There was a portal near here and I wanted to check it out."

Gibbs' brow furrowed. "How did you know there was a portal here? Did you place it?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "One, I'm a ghost. I have my ways. Two, didn't I just say I wanted to check it out? I think I _do_ know who placed it though."

Tony and Ziva seemed fascinated with the idea of a ghost, but Gibbs was still a little suspicious. "Did you kill the Marine that was here?"

"Wait, what?!" Danny asked, surprised that they would suspect him of murder. "I'm just a ghost from Amity Park who wanted to see what was going on!"

Gibbs dropped his gun a fraction, then raised it again. _Second mention of Amity Park today_ , he noted. "If you really are from Amity Park, what are you doing in Washington D.C?"

"Um," Danny thought quickly. "Holiday?"

"That's a pretty lame excuse for a kid wearing a dark HAZMAT suit and gloves in the middle of the night, lurking in an alleyway." Ziva said boldly.

"My gloves are a part of my suit!" Danny insisted. _Geez_ , he thought, _Do cops have to be so stubborn everywhere I go?_

Then, to his utter shock, Gibbs produced a pair of handcuffs.

"If you are, in any way,  _involved_ in the death of the Marine, you should probably talk to us."

Danny face-palmed and groaned loudly. "What will it take for people to listen to me?! Another Pariah Dark incident? Another Ember incident?"

Gibbs had no idea what 'Danny Phantom' was saying. He still didn't believe that the boy was really a ghost, despite his claims and was eager to question him. He raised the handcuffs and snapped them on Danny's wrists.

Danny looked down at his hands and quickly phased out of them, allowing them to drop to the floor. Now Gibbs knew what he was dealing with.

A real ghost. Who was now a suspect.

"Phantom, come with us."

 


	4. Enemy

Things just don't like going right, do they? Danny couldn't believe he was in this situation; being surrounded by cops who were accusing him of murder was not on his agenda.

"Look," Danny said, taking a step back, "I had nothing to do with this."

"If you come with us," Gibbs said, "You can prove it."

Danny highly doubted that, considering that Gibbs had his gun still trained on him. _I'm supposed to be leading them away from here!_ Danny thought to himself. _It would be better for them if I just…disappear!_

Danny turned invisible and flew away, daring not to look back at the NCIS crew on the ground.

"Where'd he go?" Tony asked.

Gibbs lowered his gun, but kept his eyes trained on spot where he last saw the boy. "I don't know. He's gone." He turned to his team with a determined look on his face. "We now have our primary subject."

"A kid?" Ziva asked.

"A kid who just bolted from us. He knows something."

"Good luck finding him," Tony said, laughing a little, "He's a ghost. You heard him, nobody can catch a ghost with hancuffs and guns."

"Except ghost hunters." Gibbs replied.

He had an idea.

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

Danny flew up into the HQ and found the room where his friends were waiting. Unsurprisingly, they were both awake, awake from the moment they noticed that their friend had left his sleeping bag. Danny ran a hand through his hair as he transformed back.

"Bad news guys, they think I'm a criminal."

"What?!" Sam asked, discarding her purple sleeping bag and rushing to where Danny was standing. "Did they shoot at you?"

"No. Although I think Gibbs was itching to try." Danny winced at the memory of the look on Gibbs' face.

"You shouldn't have gone." Sam said bluntly.

"Thanks for the late notice, Sam." Danny said, getting into his blue sleeping bag, which was next to Tucker's green one, "I'll just have to lay off being Phantom for a while. Right now, I'm exhausted."

Sam looked at Tucker as Danny rolled over and went to sleep. Neither of them thought that it would be as simple as that.

Indeed, mere hours later, all three teens found themselves being shaken awake by Ziva.

"Gibbs wants to talk to you three," she said.

Danny gulped and glanced at his friends. He had a pretty good idea of what Gibbs wanted to talk about. As Ziva led them to the bullpen, Danny looked for signs in the Agent's face to confirm his thoughts. He found nothing.

Gibbs and Tony were standing behind McGee at his computer when they entered. When Gibbs saw the teens, he began speaking.

" _'Danny Phantom, deputized ghost boy, with a 60% approval rating, of Amity Park, Illinois.'_ Have you heard of him?"

Danny, Tucker, and Sam exchanged glances and nodded.

"He protects the town." Danny said.

"So he really is a ghost?"

"Yes."

Gibbs looked at Danny for a long time. "May I contact your parents, Danny?"

Danny gulped, knowing that the reason mustn't be good. "Why?"

"Danny Phantom was seen last night, near the crime scene. He's our primary suspect in this case."

"Aren't your parents ghost hunters?" Tony asked Danny.

Danny smiled weakly and looked at his friends. All three of them knew that getting his parents involved with Danny Phantom was _never_ a good idea.

"Um…sure." Danny was sure that suspicion of them would be heightened if he refused. He wrote down their number on a scrap sheet of paper and braced himself for the worst.

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

"So, Mr. Gibbs, what's this about?"

Gibbs was sitting across from Jack and Maddie Fenton in the interrogation room. He was a bit surprised, when he first met them, at the fact that they were wearing HAZMAT suits; this aspect that they had in common with Phantom made him more eager to talk with them.

They had insisted on being with their son from the moment they stepped into the room so Gibbs found himself staring at Danny as well. Gibbs could tell that Danny didn't want to be in the room; squirming in his chair and glancing at the door every few minutes.

"You are scientists, correct?"

"Only the best ghost _hunters_ in Amity Park!" Jack said, his eyes widening. "Anything with an ecto-signature cowers before us!"

Gibbs noticed that Danny rolled his eyes at this statement.

"We capture and contain ecto-organisms." Maddie said, glaring at her husband. "We study them. As far as we know, we have the most extensive knowledge on ghosts in Amity Park."

"Alight then. Is there anything you can tell me about Danny Phantom?"

Danny cringed, waiting for all hell to break loose.

"That creep has been terrorizing our town for months!" Jack exclaimed.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. Clearly, the Fentons were part of the 40% that hated Phantom. "Terrorizing?"

"Yes, terrorizing." Maddie said, the anger in her voice apparent. "That ghost child is evil, like all other ghosts. It is unclear what he wants from the town but there's no doubt he'll want some…evil payment for his 'heroics'."

Gibbs looked at Danny again and saw that the boy was fuming in his chair. "You disagree, Danny?"

"Well, yeah." Danny said, looking at his parents. "Danny Phantom isn't evil. He's saved the town countless times."

"Oh, and let's not forget the fact that he's brainwashing our kids…"

"I'm serious!" Danny said, glaring at his mother and crossing his arms, "So you're saying that he _didn't_ save the town from being permanently trapped in the ghost zone?!"

"What about when he was helping that…Freakshow criminal? Or when he held the mayor hostage? " Maddie countered.

"Brainwashing and overshadowing."

Gibbs thought it was a good time to butt in, before the argument got out of hand. "So you know this Danny Phantom…pretty well, then?"

"Yes." Jack said. "What has he got to do with anything?"

"He's a suspect in our case and I thought that you could help me catch him."

"Oh, of course!" Maddie said, tearing her eyes from Danny's adamant face to look at Gibbs. "We'll help you catch Phantom."

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

Ten minutes later, Danny emerged from the interrogation room to find Sam and Tucker waiting for him.

"Dude," Tucker asked immediately, "What was that about?"

"Mom and Dad are now involved."

"NO!" Tucker and Sam shouted in unison.

Danny only nodded, noticing Ziva and McGee staring at them from across the room.

"What if it's your jerky self?"

"Wha-huh?" Danny turned back and saw slightly scared expressions on his friends' faces. "Why would it be him? Clockwork has him. It's got to be Wulf.

That thought reminded him of something. "McGee!" Danny called. "Where's Tony?"

"Gibbs placed him to watch for that portal thing."

Both agents noticed the horror in the teens' eyes and looked at each other. "What?"

"I, uh, gotta go!" Danny said, bolting from the room. Tucker and Sam plastered innocent looks on their faces.

"Bathroom." Sam said.

"Uh huh?" Ziva said, not buying the excuse, "Where's he really going?"

Tucker and Sam exchanged glances. "We can't say."

"Because you don't know? Or…"

"We just can't, okay?" Sam said firmly.

Ziva smiled; she was beginning to like this fierce girl more and more. At that moment, Gibbs appeared.

"Where's Danny?" he asked.

"Bathroom." Sam said quickly. All Gibbs had to do was look at Ziva to know that Sam was lying.

"Sam? Tucker? May I…" Gibbs gestured for them to follow him into the interrogation room. Jack and Maddie had already left the room.

"What's going on?" Gibbs asked. He liked getting to the point, especially in cases where kids were involved; the quicker the truth came out, the better it was for everybody.

Tucker and Sam didn't budge. "What do you mean?"

"How are you two involved with Danny Phantom?"

Tucker and Sam took a few seconds before answering. "He's saved us a few times."

"So you could call him an acquaintance?"

Sam shifted a little and looked at the dark screen, not knowing if anyone was behind it. "Kinda."

"Are you helping him?" Gibbs said. He was beginning to think that his witnesses knew much more than they were giving him. Unfortunately, he could see that both kids had guessed what he was thinking.

"He didn't kill anybody." Tucker said.

"We're sure of it." Sam added through gritted teeth.

Gibbs had to hand it to them, their devotion to this Phantom guy was strong. "Sure of it?"

Tucker and Sam looked at each other. _How do we get out of this one?_

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

As soon as he had heard McGee's statement, he sprinted for the nearest empty room. This was not good; what if a portal opened and something happened to Tony. Danny vaguely remembered Skulker's 'visit' to the HQ.

Transforming, he flew through the roof and began searching for the agent. Within minutes, he spotted the black car than he knew belonged to Tony. Looking in the car, he saw that it was empty.

Danny, fearing the worst, stepped into the alleyway. "Hello? ?"

That was when he spotted it. A half-eaten sandwich on the ground.

A glowing green portal was open mere meters from it.

And Tony was gone.


	5. Rescue

Tucker and Sam were still in the interrogation room with Gibbs when Sam's phone went off.

"Can I take this?" she asked, glad for the distraction. They had been going at this for at least twenty minutes and, frankly, she had had it with Gibbs' questioning.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her irritated tone but nodded once. "In here."

Sam drew her lips and turned away to answer. To her relief, it was Danny.

"Hey Da-." She stopped short at his hurried voice. Something was wrong.

As she listened to Danny explain what happened, she paled slightly. "Okay…what do you want us to do?...We'll get there."

She snapped her phone shut and motioned for Tucker to follow her.

"Where are you two going?" Gibbs said. What Sam had heard sounded like an emergency, but he had questions that needed answering. He couldn't just let them leave.

"We're…going to look for Danny." Tucker said innocently, "Boy, has he been in the bathroom for this long?"

Gibbs wasn't buying it. "No, really. And where _is_ Danny?"

Sam rolled her eyes, "Let's go Tuck." She grabbed the African-American boy's arm and rushed out of the room.

By the time Gibbs had gotten up and looked for them, the two teens were gone. He swore as he entered the bullpen. "Ziva! McGee!"

"Yes boss." The two agents immediately rose from their seats, seeing the anger in their boss' eyes.

"We've got two rogue kids, probably leaving the building. We need to follow them."

"Tucker and Sam?" McGee asked, confused, "They ran?"

"Yes!" Gibbs replied irritably, throwing on his jacket. "Let's go."

xxxPhantomNCISxxx

"There they are!"

Tucker and Sam were still running. They didn't notice that Ziva, McGee, and Gibbs were tailing them and Gibbs wanted it to stay that way.

The children ducked into a hotel first.

"This is where the Fentons are staying." McGee informed Gibbs from the backseat.

"What are they doing here?"

"No idea," Ziva said, "Although they didn't look like they'd be seeking refuge here."

She was right. Minutes later, the two children emerged and began running again. This time, they were accompanied by a third, older girl.

"That's Jazz Fenton!" McGee said in surprise as Gibbs began driving again. "What's she doing?"

"She's carrying a pack." Ziva noted.

 _What were these kids doing?_ Gibbs wondered. _To involve Sam and Tucker and Jazz and…_

The realization came upon him so suddenly, he almost stepped on the brakes.

 _Danny_. That was the last name that had come to mind, yet it was the first person Gibbs had been suspicious of. _All of his disappearances…Where has he been going? What did he call Sam about to make her run?_ Whatever these kids were up to, Gibbs was sure that Danny was at the center all of this; no doubt about it. He didn't know why, or even what, but he _did_ know that the young boy's sudden disappearance was the reason for his friends' and sidter's odd behavior.

Surprisingly, the three children led the team to the alleyway—back to the crime scene.

"What are they doing here?" Gibbs asked.

In the alleyway, the three teens stopped. "Are you sure he's here?" Jazz asked. When Tucker and Sam had barged into their hotel room in frenzy, Jazz knew that something had happened to her little brother.

A familiar face popped out of the gloom, "You got away?!"

"Danny?!" Sam, Tucker and Jazz shouted, greatly relieved. They all rushed to hug him.

"Relax guys," Danny said, pointing to the sandwich on the ground, "I'm not the one in trouble. The portal's closed."

"So how are we going to get to the Ghost Zone?" Tucker asked.

"I don't-." he froze, seeing something just behind their heads.

"NCIS! Stay where you are!"

Sam and Tucker's hearts dropped as Jazz squealed in surprise beside them. They had been followed?

"How do you know Danny Phantom?" Gibbs demanded, looking at Sam's defiant expression. He moved slowly into the alley.

"Leave us alone!" Danny said, stepping in front of his friends and sister. "I don't have time for this!"

"What are you doing, then?" Ziva asked.

"Nothing you can help with!"

 _Help with?_ Gibbs thought, surprised. "Why would we want to help you?"

Danny sighed and rubbed his temples. "Do you, or do you not, notice anybody missing?"

Ziva gasped. "Tony!"

Now that Gibbs looked around, there was no sign of the familiar, cocky grin. His agent was MIA.

"He's trapped…somewhere." Danny said, "And we've got no way to-."

He stopped as a spark flashed between him and the NCIS agents. As both him and Gibbs stepped back, a small portal cut through the air. A flash of black obscured it for a second and then Danny found himself being shoved to the ground hard.

"Woah!" he was about to go intangible when he realized who it was. Relief flooded through his veins. "Wulf!"

Gibbs stood stock still, completely flabbergasted; one minute, he's talking to Phantom and the next, his suspect is being tackled by a dog that jumped out of thin air. It didn't look like a normal dog either; much larger and seemingly more vicious. McGee yelped and drew his gun, just in case the dog jumped at them. Ziva did the same, but her cry wa more in recognition than fright.

"This is the creature that talked to Tony and I."

Wulf took one look at the NCIS agents, with their guns at the ready, and tried to run. Danny, however, grabbed onto his tail.

"Your're scaring him." Danny told the agents. To Wulf, he asked, "What are you doing here? Kio vi fari…here?"

"Helpi mi," Wulf growled, "Mi fari ne iri dorso al la malliberejo!"

Wulf may have taught Danny a few basic words in Esperanto, but Danny was far from fluent. He turned to Tucker for help.

"He says he doesn't want to go back to the prison. No doubt he means Walker's jail."

"So Walker _is_ after Wulf again. And if he's determined," Danny turned to the NCIS team. "he won't care who he takes prisoner along the way."

"And this Walker guy," Gibbs asked, "Is he…?"

"A rule-obsessed ghost. I've had to deal with him before."

"I wouldn't be surprised."

Danny rolled his eyes before glaring at the team, "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not the bad guy."

"So, who are you?" Gibbs asked.

"Just…someone who can help."

"How can we trust you?" Ziva asked. Her suspicion of the white haired boy was growing with every second.

"You don't have to trust me," Danny said, echoing his words from a similar situation, "Just work with me."

Before the agents could reply, Danny turned to Wulf, who had been cowering behind him, still eying the guns suspiciously.

"Wulf? We need to get to the ghost-zone."

Wulf's eyes widened and he shook his head vehemently.

"I promise we'll keep you safe from Walker." Danny said, "We have a…friend in danger and we need you to make a portal to the Ghost Zone."

Sam, Tucker and Jazz stepped forward.

"Hang on," Gibbs said, "There's no way I'd let four _kids_ go on a rescue mission.

Danny looked back at Gibb's determined expression and sighed, "We've got this covered. You guys don't know anything about the Ghost Zone; we do."

"Then we're coming with you."

Sam huffed in annoyance, "You're just putting yourself in dan-"

"Tony is _our_ agent!" Gibbs said firmly, "If he's being rescued, we need to be there for him." He looked at Sam. "If Danny was in trouble, you wouldn't just let some random people help him without being there, right?"

Gibbs had struck the right chord; Sam bit her lip and looked at Danny anxiously. Gibbs could see that she was trying to imagine the scenario. After a few seconds, she shook her head.

"No, I wouldn't."

"Good then." Gibbs turned to Wulf. "Um…"

Wulf raised his claws and Gibbs stepped back, expecting an attack. But Wulf slashed the air in front of Gibbs and a small portal appeared. Gibbs reached out to touch it, unsure.

"Wait," Jazz spoke up for the first time, "We don't want to get separated, and there was _no way_ we could get the Specter Speeder here so…" she produced a long cord that glowed green. "We all tie ourselves to Danny."

Danny allowed his sister to tie the rope around his waist. She did the same to everybody in the group. "Wulf, you can stay here if you want." she offered politely.

Danny took a deep breath. "Are you _sure_ you guys want to come?"

Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva nodded their heads. Gibbs was beginning to think that maybe he was wrong about Danny and, although he wouldn't admit it, he was impressed. Danny and his friends didn't seem to be more than fourteen or fifteen and yet, here they were, fearlessly preparing themselves to save someone they had met only days ago.

 _Danny Phantom_ , Gibbs thought, looking at the white haired boy quizzically, _What are you?_


	6. Verdant Vortex

Solid ground. That was what Tony missed the most right now. One second, he was sitting on it and enjoying a ham and cheese sandwich. Next thing he knows, he's floating in a vast, black and green space, trying desperately to reach _something_ to stand on.

"Where the hell am I?" he asked out loud. Silence answered. Two green blobs rushed past him, screaming. Tony sighed.

"Hello!" he called out. "Anybody here?!"

"Well, well. What do I have here?"

Tony winced at the loud, deep voice that sounded behind him, surprised that he had been heard. But then, he froze. _I recognize that voice,_ he thought, really wishing that he hadn't.

He turned to find the flame-haired man—Skulker, he had remembered— smirking at him with the palm of a large gauntlet pointed at him. The center of the palm was pulsating with blue energy and, with horror, Tony saw that it was about to fire. He raised his hands to shield himself.

Skulker, however, lowered the gauntlet and peered at Tony. "Wait a minute," he boomed, "I remember you! You're that…agent…from that place where the whelp was hiding."

Tony laughed feebly, "Scary gauntlet you've got there," keeping his eyes trained on the weapon, "And it's…nice…to know I'm memorable."

"What are you doing here, human? What are you doing in the Ghost Zone?"

"The Ghost Zone?" Tony asked, lowering his hands, "Where's that?"

Skulker snickered. "You don't know where you are?"

Tony shook his head. _The Ghost Zone?_ He thought. The name was familiar, he'd heard Skulker say it himself; it definitely wasn't anywhere on Earth that _he_ knew of. He looked around him and sighed.

Skulker wasn't done with him. "Where is the Ghost Boy?"

 _This again?_ Tony thought exasperatedly. "Look, Ironman, I don't know who you're talking about."

Skulker frowned. "Useless AND lost. I have no more use for you."

With that, ignoring Tony's cries, he flew away.

Tony sighed. If this really was the Ghost Zone, then he didn't think that he'd be welcome, especially since he wasn't dead. The thought sent a chill down his spine: what if he _was_ dead? The 'Ghost Zone' was pretty explanatory. It was a place where ghosts lived. What if _he_ was a ghost?

"This is very _Lovely Bones_." He thought to himself, trying to calm down. Making movie references, even to nobody, always calmed him down. But not today.

Tony was just about to try and follow Skulker, just to have his questions answered, when he heard it. A deep, evil sounding voice that made Tony pull his gun to face the danger.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

"Woah."

'Woah' was right. Gibbs was speechless; a million different ideas about what was on the other side of the portal had run through his head, but once they were dragged through, what he saw wouldn't have crossed his mind in a million years.

Black and green emptiness was the first thing that he saw. They flew through nothingness and yet, they weren't falling. Danny, just ahead of them, flew them past floating rocks. If he hadn't seen the random purple doors, he would have thought that they were in outer space.

"Where are we?" McGee gasped.

"The Ghost Zone." Danny said simply. "It's a…parallel dimension to Earth."

"Creepy." Jazz said. Her brother looked back, surprised, until he remembered that his sister had never been in the Ghost Zone before.

"Now," Danny said, looking around, "If I were Tony and I ended up here, what would I do?"

"Scream like a little girl." McGee suggested, smiling at the thought.

"Call for help." Ziva said, elbowing her colleague in the gut. "But who would help him? I don't see anyone or…anything."

"Yeah, well… Let's just hope it wasn't Walker." Danny said. His friends nodded in agreement.

"Who would help _you_ if you were stuck, Phantom?" Gibbs asked, trying to help. He usually didn't like being second in command to most things, but if Phantom knew what he was doing…

"If I was stuck and needed help…" Danny trailed off, thinking. Then without warning, he pulled out a large map. Gibbs could see that it was hand-drawn. "Clockwork."

"You really think he can help you?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I mean, that's who I went to during the whole ecto-acne thing."

"Ecto-acne…?" McGee began to ask.

"You don't want to know." Sam said as Danny pulled them along.

He didn't get very far.

"Well, I knew that human was lying." A voice laughed from behind the group. Danny turned and formed a ghost ray. Gibbs couldn't help but be impressed as he remembered what McGee had said earlier: _He turned moments before we noticed him for ourselves._ Gibbs could see that Danny had reacted just as quickly as he would have.

Gibbs gasped when he saw the adversary though. A tall man, completely covered in weapons, was staring down at him.

"Skulker!" Danny shouted at the ghost, "What do you want."

"What I always want, Whelp."

Skulker shot a net at Danny, narrowly missing him.

"I don't have time for this, Skulker." Danny said.

"Wait!" Ziva said, turning to Skulker. "You said that a human was lying. Who do you mean?"

"I remembered him from that building where the ghost child was hidden. I don't know his name but he complimented my weaponry, calling me Ironman."

"That's _definitely_ Tony." Ziva said. She turned back to Danny. "Tony is a huge movie guy. His last words will be, 'I've seen this movie.'"

Danny smiled briefly before turning to face Skulker. "Where did you see him?"

"Why do I care? I left him a long time ago."

Skulker lunged at Danny. Gibbs instinctively pulled his gun and shot at Skulker, who wasn't expecting it. The bullet phased through him,of course, but it was enough to make him stop.

"And, who are you?" he said, getting in Gibbs face. Gibbs was unperturbed.

"Leroy Gibbs," Gibbs said, "And you're going to tell us where DiNozzo is."

"Hmmm…" Skulker said, "Nice comerade, Whelp. But I've got better things to do than talk."

Skulker flew off.

Gibbs glared at the back of the retreating ghost, mentally putting him on his 'enemies' list. Beside him, McGee was shaking his head.

"If Tony had to deal with _that_ ," he laughed, "I can only imagine how the conversation went."

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

To be honest, Tony had turned around expecting someone, or something, that matched the creepy voice he heard. Maybe a dark figure, or some monster with claws; y'know, something scary. Instead, he was immediately calmed by the uniformed figure that looked like some kind of ranger from an old movie.

"Oh," Tony breathed a sigh of relief, "Howdy sheriff. I was just—"

"Who are you?" The figure asked in the same, cold tone as before.

"Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS." Tony said, pulling out his badge.

Walker's eyes narrowed. "An officer of the law, huh? From the human world? No human is allowed here; it's against the rules."

Tony shrugged, "I didn't _ask_ to come here, I just…did."

Walker didn't seem to be listening, "You, as a law abider like myself, should know the Rules. But you broke them."

"What," Tony laughed, "You can't be serious. This place comes with Rules?"

"You need to come with me."

"Um," Tony frowned, getting suspicious, "I don't think so. You've got this all wrong. There seems to be a mistake…"

Walker stared at Tony before pulling out glowing, green handcuffs and making a grab for him. Surprised, Tony drew his gun from his holster and tried to put a little distance between him and Walker. But doing that in midair proved difficult; Tony ended up flailing his arms like an idiot, but not really moving anywhere. Walker grabbed onto his ankle.

"Accessing the Ghost Zone without authorization," Walker drawled, "Possessing real-world items, and resisting arrest. I think we have a problem here."

"Ya think?" Tony muttered as Walker cuffed him, "What have I gotten myself into?!"

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

Clockwork was nowhere to be found when Danny touched down on Clockwork's doorstep. He entered cautiously into the main room. The ticking of clocks could be heard in the air around them and, looking back, Danny could tell that everyone except Sam and Tucker were wishing they had multiple heads. Ziva and McGee's head was jerking, up, down, and side to side erratically, trying to take everything in, until Gibbs slapped the both of them.

"Stop acting like little kids on a field trip, we've got a job to do!"

"Right boss." Both agents said, stopping immediately.

Sam chuckled.

"So," Gibbs turned to Danny. "Where is this guy, Clockwork? Who is he?"

"Clockwork is a pretty powerful ghost," Danny said, floating around, "He's helped us in sticky situations before."

"So where is he?" Gibbs asked.

"Here." A soft, yet powerful voice, echoed from behind.

Gibbs turned to find a tall ghost wearing a purple cloak; it had a pale blue face and gleaming red eyes. With a sickle in one hand, this ghost looked like the Grim Reaper. Gibbs opened his mouth to speak.

"No need for introductions, Agent Leroy Gibbs," Clockwork said calmly, "I know who you all are." Then, he turned his attention to Danny Phantom.

"Ah…back again?"

Danny looked up at Clockwork's looming figure and nodded, "I need some advice."

Clockwork looked over Danny's shoulder at the NCIS team, thinking. "One of you is missing."

Gibbs frowned, "How would you know that?"

"I know everything," was Clockwork's reply. The omniscient ghost turned back to Danny. "I can't do anything for you. I control time, not people's actions."

At the indignant look on Danny's face, Clockwork raised a hand, " _I_ cannot do anything for you. But I know someone who can."

"What? Who?" Danny said excitedly.

"There is a ghost in the Far Frozen named Frostbite; ask for the Infi-Map. He may be able to help you. Now if you excuse me…"

Clockwork slashed through the air with his sickle and disappeared. Danny, seeing that they had been excused, led the team back out into the swirling Ghost Zone.

"The Far Frozen?" Tucker asked, "I don't think that's a part of the Ghost Zone we've ever been in."

"Yeah," Danny agreed, "It's not on the map. But I've heard of it, somewhere."

"Well, how are we supposed to get there, wherever it is?" Ziva asked, "You can't expect us to just…float around?"

"Let's ask them." Sam suggested, pointing to three ghost blobs in the distance."

"How do we know they can help us?" Tucker asked.

"Let's ask for directions." Sam repeated, getting annoyed.

Danny examined the map, ignoring Sam. "I have a feeling that it's this way."

He flew off, dragging everyone behind him. Sam crossed her arms. "What is with boys and asking for directions?" she muttered to Jazz and Ziva.

Ziva laughed. "They can be as stubborn as horses."

"Um, Ziva," McGee said, "It's _mules_."

"But horses _are_ stubborn. And who said you could correct my idioms?"

"Well Tony isn't here so I thought…"

Sam looked between the two arguing agents, amused. _They're kind of like Danny,Tucker and I._

The Agent's argument amused Sam and Tucker, who had begun eavesdropping, until Danny suddenly stopped. "Okay, now I'm lost." The ghost-boy said, scratching his head, confused.

" _NOW_?!" Sam shouted angrily, "How long did it take for your mental GPS to figure _that_ one out?"

"You don't recognize a single thing here?" Gibbs asked.

Danny looked around at all the doors and rocks, then shook his head, "Nope," At Sam's murderous expression, Danny added quickly, "But that's the point, right? I mean, we've never been to the Far Frozen so why should we recognize anything?"

"Ask for directions," Sam said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay!"

Danny flew over to some specters nearby who, at the sight of the incoming group, flew away. Danny chased after them yelling, "Hey!"

The ghosts led them to an archway made of ice and floated into the darkness of the passage beyond.

"Ice," Ziva exclaimed, "Where have you seen natural ice in the Ghost Zone, Phantom?"

"Well," Danny said flying through the passage, "Nothing in the Ghost Zone is natural but I get what you mean. This must be the place! I knew I was going the right—"

"Danny! Look out!"

A huge, icy stalagmite loomed out of the darkness and Danny noticed it, too late. With a painful _crunch_ , he crashed into the icicle and fell, down through a hole in the passage and face first into the snow. Everybody else fell into a pile beside him.

"Nice going, Titanic." Tucker quipped, holding his head.

"Shut up," Danny replied, his voice muffled by the snow.

"Where are we?" Gibbs asked. He was beginning to have enough of Phantom's spontaneous actions.

Danny wiped snow off his jumpsuit before looking around. Then, he smiled and turned to the group.

He stretched out his hands theatrically, "Welcome to the Far Frozen…I think."


	7. Negotiation

"I-I-It's...cold." Tucker stammered, wrapping his arms around himself.

Of course, none of them had thought to bring coats to the Ghost Zone since it had been summertime back in Washington D.C. McGee was nodding in agreement but Sam, Ziva, and Gibbs were gritting their teeth, deciding to suffer in silence.

Gibbs looked around. He couldn't understand why this particular place was important- it just looked like snowy wilderness to him. It was like being in Antarctica. Still, the grin on Phantom's face showed that he was confident they were in the right place.

"What...or who exactly are we looking for?" Ziva asked.

"Clockwork mentioned someone," Sam said, "Frostbite...I think."

"Well I'm definitely getting frostbite just standing here." Tucker complained, "Can we find this guy already?"

Before anyone could move, however, a huge figure cast them into shadow. Looking up, Gibbs immediately thought of yeti—a giant yeti baring it's teeth, to be exact. All three NCIS agents drew their guns and moved to act as a barrier between the creature and Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Phantom. The ghost boy, however, moved in front of the agents and motioned for them to stop.

"Wait!"

He turned to the creature, his arms still outstretched. "Don't attack us! We're here, looking for someone. Does 'Frostbite' ring any bells?"

The creature stopped growling. "I am Arctic, his Captain of the Guard. You are the Ghost Child, our Savior, correct?"

"I'm what? Listen, we, uh, need his help," Danny said, "Can you take us to him?"

Arctic nodded once and plodded in the direction that he came from, the Team in his shadow.

"Do you really think Frostbite can help?" Gibbs asked Phantom. The ghost boy shrugged.

"I dunno. If he can't, then we look for Tony on our own; I know a few places we can start."

But that was unnecessary because Arctic led them into what seemed to be a camp. Identical yeti-ghosts were everywhere the group looked, pointing and whispering about the new arrivals. Suspicious, Ziva and McGee kept their hands near their holsters.

"The People of the Far Frozen," Arctic grunted in introduction, "Our king, Frostbite, is in the Sacred Chamber. He will be very pleased to meet you."

"The Chamber?" Jazz whispered to Sam. Sam shrugged as they entered another tunnel. This one was covered in drawings, almost caveman-like. Sam took a closer look; the drawings all looked familiar. Almost like…

"Danny!" she cried, "Take a look at these!"

Danny turned to where she was pointing to see drawings…of himself.

"Phantom?" Gibbs questioned from beside him. Looking at the many drawings of the same face, Gibbs could see that Phantom was revered here, but from the look on the ghost boy's face, he was seeing these for the first time. Apparently, this ghost boy was very important in the Ghost Zone; this only made Gibbs wonder more, ' _Why was he in Washington D.C. of all places?'_

"Wow," Danny said, "This is cool."

"Yeah," Tucker said, rolling his eyes, "In the land of furry, flea-bitten yeti, you're a legend!"

"Shut up," Danny said as McGee snickered.

"Look," Sam said, pointing to a drawing that was larger than the others, "That's you defeating Pariah Dark."

"Who?" Ziva asked.

"The dreaded Ghost King," a voice said from behind them, "The ghost child saved us from his wrath, and for that, we are his servants."

They all turned to find a second yeti; this one was more royally dressed though, and was beaming down at them, or more specifically, at Danny.

"Uh, thanks?" Danny said. He honestly had no idea how much respect his actions had earned him that day but , here, they were treating him like some kind of king, "Are you Frostbite?"

"Indeed," the yeti nodded, "You have come for help, I have heard."

"Yeah," Danny said, "Clockwork told us that you could help us find our friend, Tony. He's lost in the Ghost Zone. Probably drifting."

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

On the contrary, Tony was actually being pulled, quite firmly, along by Walker. They passed cell after cell, where Tony could see many unhappy ghosts. The handcuffs that the ghost had bound him with were digging into his wrists and he winced.

"I'm sure there's been some misunderstanding; I came here by accident. I'm with NCIS—Senior Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."

"Human titles of authority won't work on me," Walker said, curtly, "If you're guilty, you're guilty."

"But I haven't done anything!" Tony protested. This ghost was beginning to get on his nerves, "You have no right—."

"I have every right. Now be quiet, or I'll increase you're jail time by 25 years."

"What?!" Tony said incredulously, "How long are you holding me?"

"First offenders serve for 100 years."

That stunned Tony into silence. Forget being a pile of dust by that time, this was ridiculous.

Walker dragged him into a cold, dark cell. There was a squat ghost wearing blue overalls sitting in the corner who barely raised his head as Walker opened the cell door.

"Here, you can keep this nuisance company," Walker growled, "And I've electrified the walls, so don't even _think_ about walking through them." With that, he shut the cell door with a _clang_ and left.

The squat blue man jumped up. "Beware! For I am the Box Ghost!"

"The _what_?" Tony had never heard of such a pathetic name for a ghost.

"I am the Box Ghost! Fear me!"

"Yeah...I don't think so," Tony said, getting up to look through the bars at the Ghost Zone beyond, "Why?"

"I will terrify you with any object square or cardboard!"

"That's it?" Tony said, crossing his arms, looking down at the man, "Not really what I would call 'terrifying'."

The ghost stamped his foot, not unlike a child, "I cannot be contained inside this cell!"

"Whatever," Tony said, turning back to the small window, "Why does Texas Ranger think I can walk through walls?"

"Humans are the ghosts of the Ghost Zone," the Box Ghost replied, "Are you saying that you can't?"

"Seriously?" Tony stretched his hand to touch the wall, but jerked it back as he received a small shock. "Ow!"

"There's no getting out for you," the Box Ghost said, "You will have to serve your time."

"But 100 years!" Tony said, "I can't stay here for 100 years! I'll be dead before my time is up. I have a team to get back to!"

"It is impossible," the Box Ghost said, "I will haunt you in this cell for the rest of your life. Fear me!"

Tony had no idea he could hate someone…or something… in such a short space of time. "No chance Lumberjack."

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

Gibbs couldn't take his eyes off the back of Phantom's head as they continued down the dark passageway. The ghost child, in turn, couldn't take his eyes off all the crude drawings on the wall. They depicted figures running, sitting, fighting—but all of them were of him. Danny felt himself relax; there would be no danger here if they all revered him. He didn't really feel like getting in a fight with these ghosts.

They hadn't been walking for more than two minutes before the tunnel suddenly opened up into a cavernous area. The team looked around in awe; every surface was either made of, or covered in, glistening ice. There were niches carved in the walls that held artifacts and golden chests that, the team was sure, all held even more valuable objects. But the central object in the room was another, larger chest that didn't have the same lock the others did. Gibbs immediately knew that whatever was in the chest was what they were looking for.

Frostbite placed his hand against an imprint in the lid of the chest and it clicked open. All eyes were on Frostbite as he pulled out…a scroll?

"Behold, "Frostbite said proudly, "the Infi-map!"

"That's it?" McGee asked. He had been hoping for something more high tech. They _were_ ghosts, but still.

Frostbite saw his disappointed look and chuckled, "Say where you want to go and it'll take you there." He unrolled it to show a map—a map of the Ghost Zone. He held it out.

Gibbs and Danny both grabbed for the map at the same time, both with gleaming eyes. Sam grabbed onto Danny's arm. "Wait, Danny."

But Danny was ignoring her, "So, "Danny said excitedly, "All we need to do is say 'take us to Tony' and—"

"Danny! No!" Sam shouted.

But it was too late. The map began to glow in Danny and Gibbs' hands and they were carried out of the camp, shouting in surprise. Tucker, McGee, and Ziva all raced outside, following the floating figures as the map carried them out of the camp. But they couldn't catch up. The map was flying them away quickly. They could only watch as Danny, Sam and Gibbs were dragged into the green, open air that was the Ghost Zone.

The group stood at the edge of the camp in stunned silence. Jazz turned around to Frostbite, who had followed them out.

"Do you happen to have, um, another map in that chest?"

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

One minute, Danny had been happily holding onto their ticket to finding Tony on firm ground, next thing he knew, he was being pulled along by it through the Ghost Zone—how did _that_ happen? He saw Gibbs holding onto the end of the parchment beside him and could feel Sam, who was slowly cutting off the circulation to his arm. They were being dragged along at a very high speed, passing islands and purple doors; Danny was afraid to let go.

After a minute or two of flight, the map stopped glowing and dropped them on the edge of one of the larger floating islands. As Gibbs rolled up the map, he looked down at Phantom and raised an eyebrow. The ghost child rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Oops?" he offered. Gibbs rolled his eyes as Sam smacked Danny's arm and looked around.

"Where are we Phantom?"

Danny turned to where Gibbs was looking, saw the giant castle, and froze. Oh, why did Tony have to be _here_?!

"What is it?" Gibbs asked, frowning at Phantom's apparent concern. Sam had the same worried expression on her face as well.

"This may be harder than I thought," Danny replied, "This is Walker's prison."

Gibbs looked up at the castle again. "Ghosts have prisons?" he guessed he really shouldn't be surprised, "Tony got arrested?"

Danny nodded and shrugged, "Probably, but knowing Walker, Tony was probably arrested just for being here."

Danny pulled Gibbs and Sam backwards and behind a nearby bush as two of Walker's guards floated past. Gibbs noted that they were dressed just like policemen. "I can't be seen here."

"Why not?"

Gibbs thought he might be mistaken, but he thought he saw Phantom blush. "Once, I, um, set every inmate free from the inside. He's had it in for me ever since."

"Yeah," Sam added, "In Amity Park, Walker turned half the town against him."

Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "No kidding, considering Phantom let all his prisoners go. Why would you do that?"

Phantom raised his hands in defense, "Hey, many of them were in there for no reason! I couldn't escape myself without freeing the innocent ones!"

Gibbs felt a flash of pride for the ghost boy, but quickly became serious again. "So how do we get past these guards?"

"I can make us invisible so we can walk across the courtyard. You and Sam should be able to go through the walls easily enough."

" _Through_ the walls?"

Danny nodded, "Just like ghosts can walk through walls in the real world, humans can walk through walls here."

Gibbs nodded. It made sense that that should be true. "So how are you going to get in? You're a ghost."

Danny looked back up at the castle, trying to decide if he should tell Gibbs that he was wrong. Well, partially wrong. He decided against it.

"I'll…find a way. I always do."

Gibbs was curious to see what the ghost boy had in mind but mutely accepted his answer. Danny reached out his hand to Gibbs and the man took it. Sam took his other hand.

"This may feel odd for a second." Danny warned before turning invisible.

Gibbs shuddered slightly. It did feel odd, like a trickle of water was running down his back, yet he knew he was dry. Gibbs looked down at himself and realized that he could see the ground though his transparent body. He was invisible! He looked over at where he'd last seen Sam but she was gone too. She, however, seemed to be more used to the feeling, making Gibbs wonder just how close she was to Phantom. She had clearly done this more than once.

"We can't break contact, otherwise, you'll be visible again." Phantom told him. They slowly crossed the courtyard leading to the prison gate.

They reached the wall without another comment. Danny pulled them to a corner in shadow and let go of their hands. Gibbs looked down at himself and saw that he was visible once more.

Gibbs turned his head towards the empty expanse of air behind them. He sighed as he realized that he was separated from his team, left in the company of the ghost boy. "I wonder how long we've been gone from the real world?" he asked himself. He looked towards Sam, "You're friend Danny must be wondering where we all are."

Sam nodded and mumbled, "Sure," but when Gibbs turned his back, she winked at Danny. He squeezed her hand a little in gratitude and she blushed.

"Neat trick." Gibbs commended Phantom. He imagined how much easier it would be to go undercover with those powers at hand.

"Thanks," Danny said, "Be careful going through, there may be guards on the other side."

Before Gibbs could reply, Sam nodded and stuck her head through the wall as if it was nothing. Gibbs raised an eyebrow. His day had taken a turn for the weird ages ago but it still surprised him to see a girl shove her head into a wall with ease. He stuck his hand through, expecting resistance, and was pleased to find there was none. They both strode through. Luckily for them, the hallway they had phased into was empty.

"Come on," Sam whispered, "This way."

Gibbs followed Sam, mildly impressed with her authority. He was out of his depth here and she obviously knew it. He followed her down a small flight of stone stairs and curiously looked into the bars of the cells down there.

He saw ghosts of many shapes and sizes in each of the bars. Some of them had their back to him, others saw him and stared back. "Tony?" he hissed. His voice echoed around the room.

There was no reply.

"Maybe in the next room." Sam said, hurrying to the arch that connected this room to the next, but stopped. Right in the middle of the room, watching the cells, were two of the white police-ghosts that they had seen earlier.

Gibbs reached for his gun but Sam shook her head, "Normal bullets won't work on them. But…"

With a small smile, she reached into one of her boots and withdrew a blow-dart gun. Now Gibbs was really surprised.

"Where did you get _that_?!" he asked, looking it over. It was small and green, small enough to hide in her combat boots.

"From Jazz, "she said simply, "We'd brought stuff to defend ourselves with, remember? What if we had run into Skulker again?"

Gibbs admitted she had a point. These kids were as prepared as his team when it came down to it; he couldn't help but be impressed.

Twenty seconds later, both guards were asleep on the ground…if ghosts could sleep—Gibbs wasn't sure. All he knew was that they were out of commission and they could enter the next room safely. As they were about to, they heard someone shout in the hall behind them. Gibbs heard something crumple to the ground before a figure turned the corner. It was Phantom.

"About time," Sam hissed at the ghost boy, "Come on."

"Tony?" Gibbs hissed into the room. This time, there was a reply.

"Boss?" a voice that was obviously Tony's sounded. A spark flew from the final cell as something hit the bars.

Gibbs felt a rush of relief as he spotted his Special Agent. How long had it been since he had disappeared? Luckily, Tony didn't look any worse for wear as he grinned.

"Hey Boss. I thought I would be stuck here to rot." He saw Phantom and Sam flanking Gibbs, "Is this my rescue squad?"

"The others got left behind." Sam said, looking at Phantom pointedly, who winced under her glare before turning back to Tony, "We're here to get you out."

"Thank god! I don't want to spend another minute in here with this guy." Tony jerked his thumb into the corner of the room, where he could see a much smaller figure huddled in the shadows. Once it saw them, however, it flew out into the light. It was a man and everything about him was blue: hat, his overalls, even his skin.

"I am the Box Ghost!" the man shouted, "Tremble in fear at my wrath!"

Gibbs just stood there. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I'm sorry, what?!"

Phantom ignored the man and rolled his eyes, "Man, you got stuck with Boxy? That's _got_ to be rough."

Sam laughed.


	8. Prison Break

Tony, about half an hour into his jail-time, couldn't believe it when he heard the frantic whisper from outside the cell, calling for him.

"Boss?" he scrabbled over to the cell bars and reached out. The human-proof force-field across the bars sparked into effect, zapping his hand. It was worth the momentary pain, though because, a second later, Gibbs face popped into view.

He'd never been so glad to see Gibbs, "Hey Boss. I thought I'd be stuck here to rot."

He was about to ask Gibbs how he'd found him anyway, when two other figures stepped forward. Tony was shocked to see the girl, Sam, and…Phantom?

Of course, it kind of explained how Gibbs had found him in the first place. Phantom obviously knew how to track him through the Ghost Zone and he couldn't exactly see Gibbs staying behind. But why was Sam, an ordinary child, tagging along?

"Is this my rescue squad?" he asked.

Sam rolled her eyes, "The others got left behind." At that, she glared at Phantom, who seemed to shrink. Interesting. "We're here to get you out."

"Thank god. I don't want to spend another minute in here with this guy." Tony jerked his thumb back at the Box Ghost, who had been silently watching their interaction. At the back of his mind, Tony realized that this had been the longest his cellmate had been quiet. Unfortunately, at Tony's indication, he decided to fly out of the shadows.

"I am the Box Ghost! Tremble in fear at my wrath."

Gibbs stood there dumbfounded as both Sam and Phantom rolled their eyes, "I'm sorry, what?!"

"Man," Phantom said, "You got stuck with Boxy? That's _got_ to be rough."

Phantom turned around and that's when Tony noticed the two ghosts lying in a heap on the ground. He figured they were…unconscious? Or at least some form of it, since they weren't moving and they couldn't have just _died._

"Let's get these guys out of sight." Phantom said, pulling the two unconscious guards into the corner of the room, where they were hidden in the shadows.

Tony then realized a very obvious question had not yet been answered.

"So how are we going to get me out of here?"

He felt something drop in his stomach as his question was met with silence. He saw Phantom and the girl, Sam, exchange glances and shrug. Phantom reached out a hand to touch the bars but jerked it back with a yell of pain as the force-field sparked.

"Okay," he said, "Not going in the easy way."

Before Gibbs could do the same, Tony shook his head, "No good Boss, it works on people too."

"Great," Sam said, "You can't get out and we can't get in. So much for 'rescue'."

"There's got to be a way." Gibbs muttered, looking for any possible escape route. He turned back to Tony, "Rule 9, DiNozzo?"

Tony smiled weakly, "Never go anywhere without a knife? Yeah, it was confiscated."

"What about the guards?" Sam asked, "Couldn't you just give them the slip when they let you out?"

"There doesn't seem to be any chance of being let _out_ of my cell for anything." Tony laughed, "That would kind of defeat the purpose of prison."

"No, wait," Phantom said, pacing, "Sam's right. Normal prisons allow inmates time to exercise and eat. Ghosts don't need much exercise but there _is_ one time Tony can get out of his cell. Or, at least, from what I remember when I was stuck in here."

Gibbs saw Tony open his mouth to respond to that and, seeing the possible distraction, he cut in, "When?"

Phantom stopped pacing and smiled at Gibbs and Tony, "Lunchtime."

"Ghosts eat?" Tony blurted.

Gibbs reflexively reached out to slap his agent, forgetting about the force-field. He winced when he received a shock. Tony laughed, "Well, I know there's one good thing about being stuck in here." he said as Gibbs resorted to glaring at him instead.

Suddenly, Gibbs felt someone grab his hand and shuddered as the sensation of water trickling down his back returned; he was invisible again. He saw Tony blink and look around, confused. A second later, however, footsteps became audible, echoing through the chamber. Then a figure walked around the corner, who Gibbs could only imagine was Walker himself. The ghost just had an authoritative aura about it that Gibbs knew well. He, himself, had it.

The ghost was also tall, taller than Gibbs, with broad shoulders. His eyes glowed green, just like the Phantom, and the other ghost, Skulker, and seemed to be permanently narrowed into a scowl. Gibbs figured that getting on his bad side would be a very dangerous thing. Gibbs felt Phantom's hand pull him sideways as Walker strode up to Tony's cell.

"So," Walker drawled, "How're you enjoying your stay?"

Tony glared at the ghost, "I'm not afraid of you. Look, we're both officers of the law, we're on the same side. Can't you just let it slide?" The smirk the ghost shot back didn't look promising.

"I could, but that would be against the rules." Tony groaned. _You really are a stickler, aren't you?_ He thought. Walker continued, "Now that you've got nowhere to run, let me make things clear: the name's Walker. Know it, fear it, _obey_ it."

"How about I just _ignore_ it?" Tony mumbled. Gibbs heard a barely stifled giggle somewhere to his left.

"Listen buddy," Tony continued, "I know you're a stickler for rules and such, but my boss would kill me if he found out I'd been arrested on the job so…"

At that moment, the Box Ghost, who Tony realized had been quiet the entire time, flew as close to the bars as he dared and shouted at Walker, "This cell cannot contain me! I will escape…and have my revenge!"

Tony couldn't help but face-palm.

Walker laughed deeply and just turned away. He rounded the corner and disappeared. Gibbs stepped forward, but a tightened grip on his hand told him to wait. After a few more seconds, the hold was released.

"Wha-?" Tony stepped away from the bars, shocked at their sudden reappearance.

"Shh!" Phantom said, checking around the corner to see if Walker was gone. He turned back, satisfied that they wouldn't be heard. But before he could open his mouth, there was a stirring in the corner—the guards were waking up.

Phantom grabbed Sam and Gibbs' hands and pulled them out of the room. Tony was about to turn back when Phantom poked his head back around the corner, "We've got to find a place to hide but don't worry Tony, we'll get you out of here."

The Box Ghost beside Tony straightened up and put his hands on his hips. Phantom sighed.

"Yes Box Ghost," he said, looking as if he was already regretting it, "We'll get you out too."

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

Still gripping both Gibbs and Sam's hands, Phantom led them away from the prison cells and into the maze that was the rest of the prison. With ghost guards everywhere, they needed to stay invisible the entire time and Gibbs got used to not being able to see his own body as he moved around. After a while, Phantom found an abandoned room, unguarded, and pulled them in.

"So what's the plan?" It was Sam's voice that rang out, despite her whispering.

Phantom looked over at the watch on Gibbs' wrist, "I'm guessing that lunch is at twelve o'clock so we've got about half an hour to wait here. Then, when the ghosts arrive—."

"Hang on," Gibbs interrupted, "What kind of ghosts will we be dealing with? And how do we know that, after your escape, Walker didn't step up security?"

Sam answered his first question, "When we were looking for Tony, I saw the Desiree, Technus, and Johnny. They might help."

Phantom nodded, "And I know that Ghostwriter is in here somewhere, since he got his typewriter taken from him." He turned to Gibbs, "If there's extra security, I'll find a way to get that out of the way."

Gibbs, personally, thought it was a flimsy plan at worst but definitely not foolproof. Anything could go wrong. What if the ghosts decided to ignore Phantom? Or what if Walker himself interfered? However, Gibbs knew it was all they had and, according to Phantom, it seemed to have worked the last time he was in.

"The Box Ghost might _love_ to cause a distraction for the guards," Phantom was saying, "And I could sneak Johnny out. He and his pesky shadow could stir up a bit of mayhem and release other ghosts to fight. Desiree could summon some stuff for Technus to control…"

Phantom clearly knew these ghosts well, to be able to plan around their abilities and level contribution. Gibbs' admiration for the young ghost increased. He also knew that Tony might want to help fight as well, as did he.

"What can I do?"

"You could help Sam." Phantom said. Sam had pulled out ray guns with the Fenton logo on the side. "You could use those. I'm guessing they shoot like a normal gun, but don't use your own—they're useless against ghosts who can just phase through them. Sam has an extra one so she can give it to Tony to use when you find him. Remember, you guys can walk through walls at will. Use that to your advantage."

Minutes later, they all heard a gong, signaling Lunchtime. Peeking out of the room they were hiding in, Gibbs saw ghosts of all shapes and sizes march single file down the hallway into a large room at the end. Some looked human while others were merely blobs. In the crowd, Gibbs spotted Tony, but couldn't call his attention because a guard was walking beside him, keeping an eye on the human prisoner.

Finally, the last of the ghosts marched into the mess hall and the doors swung shut behind them with two guards stationed outside. Phantom whispered, "Hang on, stay here," before disappearing. A second later, two muffled cries reached Sam and Gibbs' ears and Phantom soon reappeared.

"Come on."

The two guards were nowhere in sight. At Gibbs' questioning glance, Phantom said, "I knocked them unconscious and sent them to the floor below us. When they wake up, they'll have no idea what happened and will just go on their way."

"What if they sound the alarm?" Gibbs asked. Suddenly, something else occurred to him, "Wouldn't _you_ have to phase through the floor to do so?"

"Do you question everything?" Phantom snapped back, but Gibbs could see that he honestly hadn't thought of everything.

"It's one of my personal rules," Gibbs replied, "Never take anything for granted."

Phantom said nothing, but gripped their arms again. The trickling sensation returned and, cracking the door open, squeezed through into the mess hall, invisible. The ghosts guarding the door on the other side glanced at the disturbance but, seeing nothing, they went back to observing the mess hall. Thank goodness they were just Walker's grunts and weren't very bright.

The room was filled with the sound of chatter, not unlike a usual mess hall, although Gibbs didn't know why he thought it would be different. Ghosts at different tables were eating green slop that had been served by a large ghost woman wearing an apron and hairnet. The largest group, they all immediately noticed, was surrounding a table that held Tony. He looked uncomfortable beings surrounded by so many ghosts, but they were all talking and examining him. They all wanted to see the first human prisoner.

Phantom guided them under a table in the very corner of the room. "Okay," Phantom's voice was suddenly in Gibbs' ear, "I see the Box Ghost. I'll be right back; try not to be seen."

Gibbs felt Phantom's hand leave his as he moved over to Tony's table, where the Box Ghost was hovering over the crowd trying to get some of the attention. It gave Gibbs a chance to ask Sam a question or two.

"How do you know Phantom?"

Sam glanced at him before turning her gaze back to watch what was going on, "He saved me and Tucker's life a few times."

"No," Gibbs wouldn't take that, "The way I see you two act, it's like watching my team. You don't get that close from being 'saved a few times'."

Sam blushed, "He just…became our friend."

"Is he friends with Danny too?"

Sam took some time to think, "Sort of."

Frustratingly, before Gibbs could ask any further questions, the Box Ghost suddenly appeared beside them.

"Ahh," Sam shouted, startled. Thankfully, her shout was drowned out by the surrounding noise," Don't _do_ that!" she hissed at the little blue man. Phantom reappeared on her other side, provoking a similar reaction and earning a hard poke on the arm.

Rubbing his arm, Phantom relayed the plan to the Box Ghost who was surprisingly quiet.

"Okay, Boxy," he finished, "If you do this for us, you can go free."

"Yes!" The Box Ghost said, "And my reign of terror can begin once again! Nobody will be safe from my cardboard boxes of doom!"

"Yes, fine," Phantom said as Sam fought not to roll her eyes, "Just go distract those guards over there so we can get Johnny." He disappeared again.

Sam and Gibbs watched as the Box Ghost floated over to the guards standing watch over the tables and began talking to them. One of them had a clearly visible annoyed look on his face and grabbed at the Box Ghost to make his sit down again. The Box Ghost floated out of reach and began taunting the guard.

"Look over there!" Sam nudged Gibbs and pointed to a table close to them. A ghost that looked like a teenage boy was sitting with his feet up on the table, staring into space. He was nodding at intervals, revealing that he was talking to an invisible Phantom, but then he shook his head and pointed to green shackles around his ankle. They disappeared in an instant and the boy nodded once more. He turned to his tablemates who had been listening in, and whispered to each of them. One of them was a woman who looked like a genie; a grin was slowly spreading on her face as the boy continued speaking.

"That's Desiree." Sam replied to Gibbs' indication.

A green ghost with glasses and white hair, "Technus."

A bluish ghost, "Ghostwriter."

The plan was beginning to take shape and Gibbs could almost _feel_ Sam's excitement.

"Any second now…"

And then, a dark shape took form beside the boy. It almost looked like a demon, with narrowed green eyes and a mouth twisted into an evil grin. At first, it was small, like a puff of black smoke, but then it grew larger like an evil shadow and seemed to become what Gibbs could only describe as black flames.

The first thing the Shadow did was fly high up the ceiling…before dive-bombing the nearest table, which happened to be the one that Tony and his crowd were sitting at. The crowd immediately dispersed as the black Shadow continued to cause mayhem. Guards in white floated forward to control the Shadow, but their batons just went through it, like it really was smoke. The boy, Johnny, and his tablemates began creating their own mess, shooting green beams at the guards and rallying other ghosts, who turned against the guards. Within minutes, the entire mess hall was fighting.

Desiree, who was indeed a genie, began summoning random objects out of the air and throwing them at guards. Technus took control of the electronic ones and used things like ghostly cords to electrocute guards. Every once in a while, both of them would shoot their own ghostly beams. Johnny seemed to be directing the Shadow, which continued to destroy the room and fling guards about. Even the lunch lady ghost, who Gibbs had seen earlier, joined in. It was terrifying how quickly she had turned from passive and sweet to aggressive.

Tony emerged from the chaos, carried by Phantom, who had a large grin on his face. He dropped Tony in front of the table as the others climbed out from under it.

"Et, voila!" Phantom said. He seemed very proud of himself.

Sam wasted no time in giving Tony and Gibbs the ray guns before taking one out for herself. The guns were lighter than the pistol Gibbs was used to using but, when he fired it at a guard who had spotted them, he realized that it had quite the kickback. Otherwise, it handled almost the same.

"Come on," Tony said, firing a few shots himself, "It's time we got out of here."

Within minutes, the guards and even the backup that had come bursting through the doors were overwhelmed, ghosts began flying out the doors and through the rest of the prison, releasing other ghosts. Soon, the doors of the prison were unlocked and beaten down as ghosts, free from their confinements, flew through them. As the prison emptied, Phantom turned back to his own group. Sam, Tony, and Gibbs were holding back the last of the guards and winning.

"We've got to go, now!" he called back to them. As they began retreating, he turned to Tony, "Tony, did Walker take anything from you?"

"My badge and gun." Tony said.

"Stay here, I'll get them for you. I know where Walker keeps all the confiscated items."

Before Tony could respond, Phantom flew off down the corridor. Tony turned to Gibbs and Sam.

"Isn't it a bit odd that Walker hasn't shown up yet? He's probably hiding somewhere. If Phantom runs across him, he might need backup."

Gibbs nodded, "From what I've heard, Phantom is his greatest target. I don't think he'd let him go if he found him. He shouldn't go alone."

The three of them headed in the direction that Phantom had flown down. He was pretty fast, but they trailed him upstairs and into an office. Walker's office. They poked their heads around the corner to look into the room. It was small, holding a desk and chair. A placard on top of the desk said 'WALKER' in green letters. A large stand held an even larger book that had 'THE RULES' emblazoned on the cover. A dark glass case at the back of the room held an assortment of objects.

They saw Phantom pull two small objects out of the case and start to turn around. A low chuckling stopped him in his tracks.

"I should have known the prisoners didn't have the guts to do this themselves," the towering white figure that was Walker stepped out of the shadows, "They _must_ have had…outside help."

To Gibbs' horror, Walker grabbed Phantom's arm and twisted it, forcing him to drop the badge and gun. Phantom cried out in pain, helpless.

"But you just made a big mistake." Walker continued menacingly, "You're in my territory again and there's no way I'm letting you go after last time. No, no, no. This time, your butt is mine forever."

"Huh. Welcome to Shawshank." Tony muttered.


	9. Extraction

Halfway across the Ghost Zone, Ziva, and McGee watched as Tucker and Jazz paced back and forth in the snow, trying to figure out what to do next. It had been half an hour since Danny, Sam, and Gibbs were pulled away by the Infi-Map, and they were still stuck in the Far Frozen. Without Danny to fly them through the Ghost Zone and without the Specter Speeder, they had no way of getting out of the Far Frozen to find their friends. Frostbite told them he would see if there were any more treasures in the Sacred Chamber that might help them, but he'd been gone for ten minutes and the two teens were getting impatient.

"You kids should calm down," McGee said, his eyes following their movement for the millionth time, "Pacing frantically isn't going to solve this."

"Well  _sorry_ for being worried about my friends!" Tucker snapped back, "I can't just stand here while they're..missing somewhere!"

"How exactly are we going to find Phantom, Gibbs, and Sam even if we _do_ get out of here?" Ziva asked.

Jazz quickly answered her question when she stopped and rummaged in the pack she had brought along with them and pulled out what Tucker recognized as the Booo-merang. The gadget had always been a pain in their sides; ever since it was first created by Jazz's parents, it had only ever locked onto Danny, which had _always_ been a nuisance to explain away.

Now, it was going to be very useful.

"This boomerang locks onto Phantom, no matter where he is. My parents built it," she handed it to Ziva, who began examining it, "It's off right now, but when we switch it on, it'll lead us right to Phantom."

Tucker spoke up, "And I have its signal so, when it does reach them, we'll be able to see where they are on my PDA."

Sure enough, Jazz took the Booo-merang back, turned it on, and let it fly into the Ghost Zone; it zoomed off like a magnet, attracted to only one target. There was a few seconds delay before it appeared as a green dot on Tucker's PDA.

"Your parents built that?" McGee asked as he watched the invention spin away.

"Yeah," Jazz replied, "All of the stuff I've brought are their inventions. Most of them are weapons, so if we run into trouble, we won't be defenseless."

"Trouble…like that ghost Skulker?"

"Yeah. Most of the ghosts I've seen are like him and worse." Jazz saw the looks that McGee and Ziva exchanged and added quickly, "But Phantom isn't one of them, trust us."

The agents looked at her in confusion and she put her hands on her hips, "Tucker and Sam told me about your investigation and I highly doubt that Phantom was the one who killed your man."

"For someone who's only saved you a few times, you seem very sure of that." Ziva noted.

Jazz and Tucker looked at each other but didn't reply. They both glanced down at the PDA, watching the green dot that was the Booo-merang. It was still moving quickly.

' _Little brother,'_ Jazz thought to herself, _'Where are you?'_

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

' _So close!'_

Danny wanted to scream in frustration. As Walker's grip tightened on his arm, he couldn't help but think of how all-too-familiar this situation felt. Last time, it was because of his parents' anniversary gift, and now it was a badge and gun. Maybe next time, if there was a next time, he should just get out as quickly as possible and _leave confiscated items alone_. Well, it was too late now. He was caught in Walker's grasp _again_. And Walker must have had plenty of time to think of how he would get his revenge.

But Danny remembered how he escaped previously. Maybe he could try that again…

"And you're not doing that human trick to slip through my fingers again."

Well, there went _that_ plan.

Walker was still laughing over him. "Oh, I've been waiting for this day! I have much in store for you."

Danny gulped, "Can't you just throw me in a cell? I promise not to try and escape again."

"No," Walker shook his head, still sneering at him, "A hundred-year sentence, or even a thousand-year sentence, couldn't hold you. Turning your precious town against you didn't get rid of you. No, this time, you have to suffer and  _I. WILL. HAVE. ORDER!_ "

Walker produced a silver collar that looked scarily familiar. Danny recognized it as the same collar that Walker had put on Wulf.

Walker saw the fear in the ghost boy's eyes and smiled, "You remember this, don't you? I had to control that mutt somehow and you set him free," Walker was momentarily distracted by the sound of something heavy hitting the bars of the window but, seeing nothing there, he continued, "You don't know how much of a pain chasing after him has been. Apparently, some of my guards chased him all the way to your world, only for some _human_ to get in the way."

Danny gasped as an image of the crime scene, the dead Marine in the alley, came to the forefront of his mind. Was that what this had all been for? Wulf? Danny was sure Walker was only trying to intimidate him. It only made him angrier, though. He couldn't believe that the poor man had died for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That Walker would only think of him as a mere  _obstacle._

The thought of the dead man distracted Danny from the rest of Walker's rant and his stomach dropped when he saw Walker's hand, with the collar in his grasp, reaching towards his neck. Before, Danny had been completely still, having already given up struggling. Now, as the collar was getting closer and closer, Danny began to panic. He tried shooting an ecto-blast with his free hand, but Walker quickly directed it at the ceiling. Struggling was useless as, no matter how strong Danny was or how hard he fought, Walker was stronger. Danny heard a cry of ' _No!'_ and glanced back at the entrance to Walker's office. Sam, Tony, and Gibbs were standing there, horror etched on their faces. Sam and Tony were holding their ray guns and they both started firing at Walker. With a shout of pain, Walker let go of Danny and the ghost-boy fell to the ground.

But it was too late.

Danny's stomach dropped as he felt the cool metal snap closed around his neck. He stood up and tried to pull it off, but, just like when trying to pull it off Wulf, it wouldn't budge. He watched as Walker turned towards his friends and shot his own ecto-blast towards them, making them drop their weapons and scatter. With a loud whistle, Walker called in some of his ghostly guards to restrain them as well. Now, they were defenseless.

"You three thought you were strong enough to take _me_ down?" Walker laughed. He retrieved a small remote from his desk and, with all eyes on him, he pressed the single button.

Then, the pain began.

Danny dropped back to his knees as the electric shock tore through his body, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain. He screamed. And screamed. No matter how hard he tried, nothing could stop the throat-tearing yell from leaving his mouth. His whole body felt like it was on fire, but he could do nothing about it. He tried pulling the collar off, but it only shocked his hands. The collar had been made for Wulf, a creature much stronger, and much larger, than Danny. Now that it was on the ghost-boy, the shock was enough to throw him between consciousness and unconsciousness. He could just feel himself turning back into Danny Fenton, when Walker suddenly let go of the button, allowing him to reverse the change. When the pain finally did stop, Danny collapsed, suddenly exhausted. He felt tingly all over. As his ears stopped ringing, Danny could hear the last of his friends' shouts before the room was silent again.

"That," Walker said from somewhere behind Danny, "was just a taste of what I have in store for you. If you refuse to obey my rules, you will have to suffer the consequences."

"That's low," Gibbs said from his position in the corner of the room, still trapped in a guard's hold, "Do you honestly think that this is the best way to get what you want—torture? You're nothing more than a coward."

Walker stormed over to where Gibbs was being held before stopping, almost nose-to-nose with him. Danny had to give Gibbs credit for not backing down under the menacing glare he was receiving. Any lesser man would have cowered under the power of that look, Danny was sure. Instead, Gibbs glared right back at him without even blinking.

"I am a law enforcer, "Walker growled, "When rules are broken, I am there to restore order, no matter what it takes. He broke the rules, so he must pay for his resistance."

The intensity of Gibbs' glare increased and, suddenly, Walker was no longer the one that Danny was afraid of, "If that's what you believe, then you're nothing more than a tyrant."

Walker opened his mouth to respond to that, but stopped. Listening for a second, the rest of them could hear why; there seemed to be a commotion going on below them. The sounds of a fight rose up to them, only seeming to get louder and louder as the fight was brought closer and closer to them. Danny's heart leapt in his chest as a few shots from ray guns blasted into the room, hitting the guards holding Sam, Tony, and Gibbs. The guards dropped their hostages in surprise. Seeing the opening, all three of them dove for their own guns, which were still on the floor, and began firing as well. The ghosts cried out in pain as the blasts from the guns hit them from multiple directions; as the shots tore through them, they retreated out the open door and flew away.

Then Tucker appeared in the doorway, holding a Fenton Lipstick.

"Tucker!" Danny shouted, relief washing over him.

His friend ran over to him, helping him up. "Sorry we took so long."

"How did you find us?"

"The Booo-merang told us where you were. Some of the ghosts that you set free found us stranded in the Far Frozen and were grateful enough to offer us a ride."

Ziva, McGee, and Jazz came in behind Tucker. Jazz immediately ran over to her brother, who was still on the floor. Ziva and McGee kept their guns trained on Walker who had moved away from Gibbs, stunned by the abruptness of the attack. He looked between them, seemed to realize he was surrounded, and raised the shock collar's remote. His finger was poised to press the button again.

"Don't shoot him," Danny said, reaching out. He was still weak so Jazz and Tucker had to support him as he tried to stand. "He's got the thing controlling this." He pointed to the collar around his neck.

Both agents hesitated, itching to shoot Walker, until Gibbs spoke up. "Listen to Phantom, but don't drop your weapons."

Gibbs picked up Tony's badge and gun from where they were lying on the floor and handed them off to their owner, keeping his eyes on Walker. He then moved to help Jazz support Danny. After seeing how much pain the ghost-boy had been in, Gibbs was surprised that he was standing at all.

"You alright, Phantom?"

Danny smiled weakly, "I think so."

Gibbs nodded curtly before turning back to Walker, "Now," he said slowly, "We're going to walk out of here, and you're not going to stop us."

Walker sneered. There was nowhere for him to hide and his guards had flown off. But he still had his one bit of leverage. "Not while I have this." He said, holding the remote up.

But even that failed, as he saw Phantom holding the collar in his hand.

"How…how did you—."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Danny said, throwing the now useless collar on the ground. And before Walker could say a word, Danny knocked him out with a well-placed kick.

"Thanks, Tucker," Danny said, rubbing his neck, "You're a lifesaver."

"Yeah, I know I'm awesome. But don't thank me," Tucker said, smiling and holding his PDA in his hand, "Thank technology."

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

Gibbs now understood why the yetis of the Far Frozen revered Phantom. He could certainly hold his own in a fight—Gibbs had seen that in the fight with all the other ghosts. He could also see he was a pretty good leader, already taking charge after an ordeal that would probably have left any human a sobbing mess on the floor or dead.

The shock had certainly had done something to Phantom though, because, as Gibbs had watched, he remembered seeing Phantom…change. He didn't know how else to think of it. But he remembered that, for an instant, Phantom's hair had changed from silver to black. It made him look familiar, but he couldn't remember why. Maybe he would ask Phantom about it later. But in that moment, he just wanted to get back to D.C.

They made their way out of the prison without any other obstacles, which Gibbs' was glad for. They were all pretty tired from this whole adventure, and the strongest member of their troupe was greatly weakened; he didn't think they'd be able to hold their own against any more antagonistic ghosts.

Gibbs was, therefore, relieved to see that by the time they reached the entrance to the prison, Phantom was walking on his own, no longer needing to lean on Jazz and Tucker.

Their rope was lying by the gates, as was the rest of their equipment, sticking out of Jazz's pack. Gibbs was suddenly glad that the teens had decided to take such precautions before diving into the Ghost Zone.

Phantom picked up the Infi-Map from the grass, "We've got to return this to Frostbite. I don't think he'd like it if we kept it."

"Hey guys," Tony said, turning to Sam, Gibbs, and Phantom, "Thanks for getting me outta there."

"No problem, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, "Next time, don't go diving into portals that pop out of nowhere."

Tony grinned, "You got it boss." He turned back to Phantom, "Are you sure you're okay, though? That shock-collar thing seemed to take a lot out of you."

"I'm fine." Phantom insisted.

"What was that thing it did to you, though?" Tony continued, "It made this white light appear and your hair changed color."

So Tony had noticed that too.

Phantom had been busy tying the end of the rope around his waist while Tony was speaking. But he froze at Tony's question. Out of the corner of his eye, Gibbs saw the other teens freeze as well, listening in.

"Wha- what do you mean? "Danny said slowly, "You must have been seeing things..."

But Phantom rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness and it was that motion, that tiny reflex, which put all the pieces in place. There was only one other person who he'd recently seen do the exact same thing and, mentally putting the faces side by side, he realized why Phantom had seemed familiar. Why Danny was always disappearing, only for Phantom to show up. Why Danny so adamantly defended Phantom in front of his parents.

"Danny Fenton?"

Gibbs almost missed it, but he saw the shock in Phantom's eyes. It was gone in a flash to be replaced by a confused look that looked a little _too_ forced, "Danny Fenton?" He glanced over at his friends and they came to his aid.

"Danny isn't here." Tucker and Sam said, wearing the same confused expression on their faces.

"Yeah," Jazz agreed, "My brother couldn't be Phantom. I would know."

But it was now too obvious for Gibbs to  _not_  see it. It was as if the mental barrier that kept the two boys separate in his mind had crumbled down and he suddenly couldn't _unsee_ it. Apart from the eyes and hair, Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were identical. He didn't know how, but he knew that, somehow, they were the same person.

And when Phantom turned back to him and they made eye contact, Gibbs could see that he was right.


	10. Final Threads

Danny stared at Gibbs, speechless.

' _How did he know?'_ he thought. Tony had said that he had changed while he was being shocked, but he didn't think he had changed far. Gibbs must have seen it too and put two and two together.

"You're Danny Fenton." Gibbs repeated.

This time, it wasn't a question. Danny looked at his friends. Sam and Tucker were silently shaking their heads, but Jazz was just watching him, waiting for him to make his own decision. McGee, Tony, and Ziva were looking at him with curiosity in their eyes, and he knew there was no going back.

"Um," Danny looked back up at Gibbs, "Well…yeah…"

"You can change."

Another statement. 

Danny sighed, closed his eyes, and let the rings of light wash over him.

Gibbs' eyes widened slightly as he watched Phantom transform right in front of him. He heard his agents gasp as snow-white hair turned black, piercing green eyes turned blue, and his HAZMAT suit was replaced by a T-shirt and jeans. Fourteen year old Danny Fenton stood where the ghost-child once was.

"I, um," Danny raised his hands to his neck, "I guess this explains a lot of things, huh?"

Tony's mouth hung open, "But…but _how did_ —? What?!"

"How did you do that?" McGee asked.

But before Danny could respond, an alarm sounded, echoing from deep inside the prison. Walker must have finally come to his senses. Trouble was coming.

"No time for questions," Sam said, rushing to close Jazz's bag and tie the rope around her waist, "We're going to have ghosts on us if we don't move quickly."

"Right," Danny nodded curtly before quickly turning back into Phantom, "Ready when you guys are."

Just as they finished tying themselves to Danny, he spotted five ghost guards flying towards them.

"We've got to go, now!"

They were already in the air by the time the ghosts reached the gates.

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

They had not anticipated this.

Walker's guards were pursuing them with a vengeance and Danny was having difficulty trying to steer the group away from them while continuously dodging their attacks. Blasts of ectoplasm shot past them. The agents, who still had their ray guns, twisted around to fire back at the ghosts but, despite hitting them multiple times, they just kept coming back.

"We need to find somewhere to hide!" Jazz shouted up at her brother, "You can't keep flying forever!"

"No, we need to get to—Ahhh!"

Danny had been hit. He felt the white hot pain as an ecto-blast hit his outstretched arm, cutting down the length of it, tearing the arm of his suit. They began to lose altitude as Danny became distracted, instinctively using his other hand to clutch at the wound. Gibbs saw green goo, mixed with flecks of red, drip between his fingers.

"Danny!" McGee shouted before turning back to shoot at the ghosts again. Their pursuers were gaining on them and the descent made it harder to aim properly. Thankfully,just as it felt like they were going to be caught, the ghosts floated to a halt, turned around and flew off. 

' _Well that was odd.'_ Gibbs thought, ' _Why would they just stop pursuing us.'_

He turned back around to see that Danny was trying to regain control of his flight. He steered them into an icy tunnel. _Did they somehow make it back to the Far Frozen? Were Walker's guards afraid to go any further?_ Thinking of Frostbite, Gibbs couldn't help but wonder if they were afraid of dealing with the yetis. He looked down as the tunnel opened up to see many small figures on the ground, which grew larger as they got closer. Soon, they were close enough for Gibbs to see that the figure at the front of the pack was wearing a blue sash. Frostbite. The King of the Far Frozen rushed forwards as Danny stumbled upon landing, wincing. His arm wasn't bleeding badly anymore, but the wound still seemed to sting. The others fell in a heap in the snow in front of the pack, but quickly rose to their feet.

"You are injured, O Great One! You need treatment!"

Danny waved Frostbite off, "I'll be fine in a bit."

"Are you sure?" Gibbs couldn't help but agree with Frostbite, "That cut looks bad."

"I'm sure," Danny insisted, "It'll heal in a second."

The king continued to frown down at the boy for a few seconds before he acknowledged the rest of the group, "You have returned with one more in your company?" he said, as he noticed Tony.

"Who's the abominable snowman?" Tony whispered to Sam, who was closest to him.

"Frostbite," she whispered back, "King of the Far Frozen. I wouldn't call him a snowman though, if I were you."

Tony nodded and stepped forward hesitantly, sticking out a hand, "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. I'm a friend of Phantom's."

Frostbite nodded, but did not shake, "Nice to meet you, Anthony. A friend of our Savior is a friend of ours. Welcome to the Far Frozen."

Tony turned to Danny questioningly but Danny shook his head, smiling. "Later," he said, before turning back to Frostbite.

"We came back to return your Infimap and thank you for all your help," Danny said, handing over the artifact, "It helped us…kind of."

"Glad we could assist you, O Great One," Frostbite said, bowing, "Is there any way we can assist you further?" Frostbite glanced at Danny's arm again.

"Well," Ziva spoke up, "We need to return home. Is there anything you have that can open a portal to get us back?"

Frostbite's face fell slightly, "Alas, such objects or powers, we do not have."

But then, one of his guards whispered in his ear and, whatever news it was, it seemed to make Frostbite happier. His smile returned and he turned back to the group.

"However, Kang, here, tells me that a natural portal not far from here, opened up, shortly before you arrived."

"How convenient." Tony muttered, but Frostbite heard him.

"Not at all, Anthony. Many natural portals open all over the Ghost Zone. Even here, some of them will appear. Advise the people not to go near them, we will, but there, they are. Follow me. But I must warn you. It is a natural portal, unanchored to your world. There is no guarantee you will end up where you started."

"We'll take our chances." Danny said. He didn't think any of them wanted to stay in the Ghost Zone another second. Especially the agents, who had been thrust into this strange world, completely out of their depth. At least Jazz had known the Ghost Zone existed and knew about the ghosts that lived in it, but the agents...

As Frostbite led them through the snowy plains, Danny noticed that the tension in their bodies was beginning to disappear. This adventure was almost over. Tony was with them, safe and sound.

They were going home.

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

When they tumbled through, the first thing they did was fall.

It wasn't far to fall, though. The sun shone down on their bodies as they hit a concrete surface, trying not to bruise themselves too badly. As the portal closed behind them, Tony looked up at the sky, a contrast to the green and black of the Ghost Zone, and took a deep breath.

"Ahhh! Sweet, Earth air!" he groaned as he got to his feet. It was good to be back.

The rest of them followed suit, helping each other up. Looking around, they noticed that they had not returned to the same alleyway as before. Instead, the portal had dropped them on top of a building. As he began untying the rope from around his waist, Gibbs looked at his watch and saw that is was 4PM. They had been gone for only three hours. It had felt more like six.

"So we didn't come out in the same place?" Ziva asked, looking over the edge of the building to the ground below.

"We came out of a natural portal," Danny reminded her, holding his injured arm. It wasn't bleeding anymore, "We should be lucky we didn't end up halfway around the world."

"But where _are_ we?" McGee asked.

Tucker fished around in his pocket for his PDA and switched it on. "We're not far from the NCIS HQ," he informed the rest of them, looking at the GPS. "The Navy Yard is only about two miles away from here."

"Well  _that's_ convenient."

"Yeah," Tucker agreed, "We could have ended up somewhere like the middle of the Atlantic Ocean or Australia if we were _unlucky_."

Jazz, who was busy untying the rope from around her own waist, turned to Danny, "Do you think you'll be okay?"

Danny removed his left hand from his arm and Gibbs was surprised to see that the wound was already closing up. At the rate at which it was healing, there would only be a faint scar left when they got back to HQ. But a cut like that  _shouldn't_ be healing so quickly.

This boy was just full of surprises, wasn't he?

"I'm fine."

"There's a fire escape over here," Sam called from one side of the building, "Let's get out of here."

"Yes," Gibbs said, winding up the rope and slinging it over his shoulder, "Let's."

The walk back to the NCIS HQ was mostly uneventful. As soon as they had set off, Danny made a point of staying at the back of their little group. Gibbs could see that Danny was still a little shaken by his ordeal in Walker's office and, while the adrenaline and his determination to get them all out had kept him distracted, there was nothing, now, to keep him from remembering those few seconds of agonizing pain. Gibbs was glad that his agents had the sense to leave him alone for the time being. Danny's own friends walked behind the agents, staying closer to Danny, but none of them spoke to him either.

Gibbs decided to focus on what remained of his case. He'd heard Walker tell Danny that one of his guards had killed their marine, but he knew there was no way he was diving back into that green, swirling abyss of a Ghost Zone just to arrest the ghost responsible. Could he even arrest a ghost? He'd tried to put handcuffs on Phantom—Danny—but he'd just phased through.

Gibbs tried to look back at the halfa but caught Jazz's gaze instead. She must have seen the look in his eyes because she quickened her pace so that she was walking beside him.

"Thanks, by the way," she said, "For your help."

Gibbs blinked at the teenager, surprised. Shouldn't _they_ be thanking _her?_ The whole point of their mission was to retrieve his agent and, without her gear, they would have been defenseless. But he took the gratitude nonetheless.

"Is my brother still a suspect?"

Gibbs hesitated before replying, "We still have to ask him some questions, but since we know who killed our marine, I don't think he needs to worry."

"You don't either, you know," Tony piped up, and he watched her visibly relax, "Although...how're we going to explain how our marine died? We can't exactly say 'It was a ghost' in the official report."

"Well," Jazz said, "You can at least tell my parents that it's not Phantom."

Tony looked back at the boy, and frowned, "Are your parents aware that the ghost they want to fillet is their own son?"

Jazz shook her head. "The only people that know are Sam, Tucker, myself, and now you guys. And with the number of times they've talked about dissecting Phantom, I don't think he wants to tell them any time soon."

Gibbs nodded. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for Danny to work hard to protect his town, only to come home and hear his own parents talk about killing his alter ego. The amount of stress and hurt a boy his age would have to endure on a near-daily basis was unfathomable. Gibbs also remembered Danny's academic report listing his bad grades and many detentions that couldn't all be his fault. He could hear Ducky telling him that it was probably a miracle that the kid wasn't depressed. Which also spoke volumes about his character because, in spite of it all, he still did his best to protect the people he cared about.

"Um, if you don't mind," Jazz said, "I think it would be best for me if I took these back to our hotel room," she held up her bag stuffed with ghost-fighting gear, "I was supposed to stay in our room and my parents have most likely noticed that I'm gone. I left a note saying that I Danny had wanted me at NCIS HQ, so they'll probably be there. I don't want them seeing all this stuff."

Gibbs gave a curt nod, "Ziva, escort her back to the hotel. After what just happened, I don't want anyone going anywhere alone."

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

Fifteen minutes later, the elevator doors opened with a _ding_ , letting the group into the familiar, orange bullpen. The first thing Gibbs noticed was Abby, sitting at McGee's desk with a worried look on her face. As the elevator doors slid shut, she looked up, then jumped up and ran over to greet them.

"What happened to you guys?" she began, speaking rapidly, "I was so worried! I came up here and found out that Tony and those kids had disappeared and you guys had gone out to find them and Danny's parents came by and I didn't know what to tell them and I've been trying to reach you for hours, Gibbs, and you wouldn't answer your phone and…"

"Whoa, Abby, slow down," Gibbs said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You said Danny's parents came by?"

"Yeah, they wanted to know if you'd found any more clues related to that ghost, Phantom. They didn't seem to find much on their end of the investigation."

"Are they still here?"

"Well, as soon as they found out that Danny was missing, they ran out, shouting about ghosts kidnapping their children. They said they'd be back around this time though."

Gibbs looked over at Danny, who was rubbing the back of his neck, visibly guilty.

"I should probably tell them I'm alright," he said. As he lowered his arm, Gibbs quickly noted that the gash down his arm had more or less healed.

Only a faint scar remained now.

As Danny pulled out his phone to call his parents, the elevator doors opened again and Mr. and Mrs. Fenton appeared.

"Danny!" Both parents spotted their son at the same time and rushed over, pulling Danny into a tight hug that lasted a few seconds. "What happened…where did…how did…"

They looked at Gibbs.

"Would you like to talk somewhere private?" Gibbs offered, "We have an empty conference room that we can use."

The Fentons nodded and followed Gibbs to the room in question. As soon as Gibbs closed the door, both parents started fussing over Danny.

"Oh my goodness," his mother burst, "We were so worried about you. Once we heard that you'd run off, we checked the hotel, and Jazz was gone too, saying that she was with you! We thought you were lost, or dead! We thought Phantom had gotten you, since he might have heard that we were involved in this case…"

"What was it, Danny?" his father asked, "Whatever it was, I'll make sure he, or it, wished he'd never even thought about hurting you!" Danny winced, hearing the ferocity in his father's voice.

Danny looked down, feeling guilty, "Mom, Dad, I'm fine. I was just…um…going for a walk. Some ghost— _not Danny Phantom_ ," he added quickly as he caught the meaningful glance his parents exchanged, "some ghost attacked me. All I could think to do was run and hide. I'm sorry if I worried you. And don't worry about Jazz, I'd called her for help once I got away from the ghost. She came to rescue me."

There was a second of trepidation, when Danny wasn't sure if his parents would buy his excuse, before Maddie's expression softened and she hugged Danny again. Danny hugged her back, allowing a smile to spread across his face.

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

"So are you ever going to tell them?" Gibbs asked.

It had been an hour since the Fenton adults had left the building and Gibbs, Tony, and McGee were sitting in the conference room, staring at Danny, Sam and Tucker from across the table. It had certainly been difficult, trying to explain the progress they had made in the case  _without_ mentioning ghosts or the Ghost Zone. But, in the end, Gibbs had managed to convince them that Danny Phantom was in no way a part of the case and that their assistance was no longer needed, and Danny couldn't thank him enough for that. Before they left, though, they each gave Danny a hug, promising to come back for him and his friends, and left him with a small ecto-gun.

"Just in case," his father whispered before he was pulled away by his wife.

Afterwards, the team had wanted to talk to Danny privately, but his friends refused to leave his side and no amount of glaring could make them leave. Finally, Gibbs agreed to let them stay in the room. Ziva, however, had no problem leaving the room as the questioning began.

"I have had enough strangeness for one day," she said simply, as she walked towards the door and closed it behind her.

So..."Are you ever going to tell them?"

Danny shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, it's not that they might reject me, because I know they won't," The incident with the Reality Gauntlet had taught him that, "It's just…I don't know. I guess don't want that on their conscience, that the ghost they hate the most and have been chasing for months is their own son. It would devastate them."

"So how did it happen?" Tony asked, crossing his arms.

"Lab accident," Danny replied, "My parents had built a permanent portal to the Ghost Zone..." 

he saw the agents' alarmed looks and shook his head quickly, "It's safe…ish. The door is closed most of the time so ghosts can't get out. Anyway, it wasn't on at the time so I just went in to look around. I pushed a button that must have turned it on." Danny began to blush again, "Count on my dad to put the ON/OFF switch on the _inside_ of the portal," he muttered.

"You got caught inside." 

"Yeah. I got zapped…"

"But why would you even think of playing with a machine like that?" Gibbs asked. Surely he would recognize his parents' dangerous inventions and wisely stay away.

Danny shrugged, "I was curious. And," he looked over at Sam, who blushed, "Sam dared me."

All eyes turned to Sam. She raised her hands defensively, "It was an innocent dare. How was I supposed to know it would end like it did?"

"But how are you alive?" McGee asked Danny, "The amount of radiation—or whatever you were hit with—must have been enough to kill you. Your parents were talking about the portal earlier and it seems like it's a really powerful machine."

"Honestly, I don't know," Danny said, shrugging, "All I know is that I was zapped with energy and knocked unconscious. Heck, I probably _did_ die. When I woke up, I looked different and had weird powers. But I'm not Phantom all the time and can still interact with stuff in this world so maybe I'm...half-dead?"

"So, how do you turn?" Tony asked, "Can you change into Phantom at will or is it like the Hulk…"

"No," Danny laughed, "I can control it." 

For the second time that day, the agents gasped as bright blue rings formed around Danny's middle then split—one going up, the other going down. Danny's T-shirt and pants turned into a black HAZMAT suit, his blue eyes turned green, and his hair turned white. Gibbs also noticed that Danny's skin turned a slightly darker shade, as if he'd gotten a tan.

"Hmmm," Tony said, "Seeing it clearly now, I'm kind of surprised people haven't caught on yet. No offence, but you might as well have Clark Kented it and just put on a pair of glasses."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this story is more or less done, but I have a bit of an epilogue. I hope you all liked it!


	11. Epilogue

"…Wait. You're telling me…that a _ghost_ killed our guy?" Abby asked with a slightly disbelieving look on her face, "You're serious?"

In spite of the utterly confused expression on her face, Gibbs could still see the gleam of excitement in her eyes as she looked between him and Danny. After Danny had shown the NCIS team his ghost form and explaining his capabilities, Abby entered the conference room asking about any progress made with the investigation and Gibbs used her curiosity to explain what they had learned in the Ghost Zone as well as properly introduce her to Danny, Tucker, and Sam, with the young goth girl immediately taking a liking to the other's sense of style ("I'm seeing double!" Tucker quipped, before cowering under Sam's death glare).

"According to the ghost warden, our victim got in the way of some…police-ghosts…who were chasing down a ghost dog."

Abby's eyes only grew wider, "So there's a place where ghosts actually live, with a police system and everything? That's so cool! What was it like?"

"It's really just an empty void," Danny said, shrugging, "There are random doors that lead here, to the human realm, and some floating islands that hold the domains of powerful ghosts. It's not that cool after a while."

But Gibbs could tell that Abby was far from disappointed with the news.

"Well, speak for yourself," Tony said, "As someone who doesn't go there _almost all the time_ , I thought it was pretty cool. A bit lonely, as bottomless voids are wont to be, but still quite a sight."

"You can't talk either," McGee spoke up, " _You_ spent most of your time in a jail cell!"

"Oh," Abby whined, "I wish I could have been there. To think that there's an entire world of supernatural creatures hidden as a parallel dimension!"

"Don't worry Abby," Tony reassured her, "We've all got enough stories to sate your hunger for the supernatural for a while."

Abby put one hand on her hip and fixed him with a disapproving stare, "But you know that's not the same! I'm going to have to look at all our evidence from a completely different angle now." With that, Abby hurried out of the conference room, an almost imperceptible bounce in her step.

Gibbs turned to the teenagers, "So are you kids heading home after this?" he turned to Danny, "I'm sure that, after the scare your parents got, they must want to leave D.C. to make sure you're all out of danger."

Danny looked at his two friends, "Well, we came to vacation here for a week or two before going home and we haven't really seen many sights. I don't want to leave just yet."

"Neither do I." Sam agreed, "And even if they try to make us leave, I'm sure we can convince them to let us stay. I mean, we brought along plenty of weapons to fight of any ghosts that many bother us and we've got the 'country's best ghost hunters' to keep us safe."

Danny rolled his eyes at the sarcasm that was practically _dripping_ from the last part of that sentence.

A short silence followed before McGee frowned slightly and said, "So if the real culprit is a ghost, then how are we going to finish this case. We can't exactly hand in our official reports to Director Vance saying 'A ghost did it!'"

Well, that was the elephant in the room, wasn't it? How were they going to wrap their case up without a murderer that more than 50% of Americans believe is non-existent? McGee's question set all of the agents' minds working, trying to think of an answer.

"There's no way we can just pass it off as an accident." Ziva began, "The victim was found dead after our witnesses," she nodded to Danny, Sam, and Tucker at that, "say they heard _two_ people arguing before a shot rang out."

"And even when we say he was shot, we're going to have to explain how, other than that, there is absolutely no evidence. There are no fingerprints, no GSR, no DNA, no…nothing." McGee added.

"Couldn't you just leave the case unsolved?" Tucker asked, "Officially, I mean. You guys know what happened and you could tell your director what happened. But why not let the case officially go cold?"

"Because it's not just about finding the killer just to incarcerate," Gibbs said, "The victim's family needs closure as well, in knowing that the killer isn't walking free. We owe them that much at the very least."

"But we should probably let Director Vance know about the threat that ghosts would possess, like Tucker suggested." Ziva said, "Just in case something like this happens again."

"But something like that would go beyond just Vance," McGee pointed out, "The emergence of an entirely new threat like ghosts would probably reach the Secretary of Defense." He looked over at the three teens, "How would you like the existence of ghosts and hybrids like you being known by the entire government?"

"Yeah," Tony said, "Unless you guys want your life to go full _X-Men_ , maybe we should just keep that news to ourselves."

Thinking of the Guys in White, Danny shook his head, "Don't worry about that. I'm pretty sure the government already knows about ghosts and the Ghost Zone as a whole. And there's only one other hybrid like me who I can take care of just fine, thanks."

Gibbs frowned slightly. "Even so, we're still going to have to explain why it will be nearly impossible to arrest our killer."

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

At first, Gibbs was hesitant to take Danny's word when he said that the government already knew about the existence of ghosts. He had no idea how a kid would get a hold of information like that, even with the amazing hacking skills that his friend Tucker claimed to possess. There was always the possibility that Danny, as Phantom, had had a run in with the government before, but Gibbs didn't remember there being any organization that seriously dealt with the supernatural.

It was a surprise then, when, behind the locked doors of Leon Vance's office, Danny explained the entire situation and fully transformed into Phantom without Vance even batting an eye. His eyes did widen a little with interest as Danny transformed into his alter-ego and back again, but he hardly looked surprised. After Danny's demonstration, Vance turned to Gibbs.

"This case of yours seems to have gone out of your jurisdiction, Gibbs. The truth behind the existence of this 'Ghost Zone', as Danny said he mentioned to you, is, in fact, known to the United States government and there is already a secret government organization in place to combat the potential supernatural threat."

"The Guys in White," Danny added, nodding in agreement, "I can't say I've had any good experiences with their operatives. It's quite annoying, being hunted down as the bad guy when I'm actually the hero." 

Gibbs, again, stared at Danny in surprise.  _'Annoying'?_ he thought, ' _having his own parents hunt him relentlessly and brushing it off is one thing, but having the United States government on his tail, must be quite another. Yet he calls it a mere annoyance?_  Gibbs didn't want to imagine what kind of world Danny was living in, where secret agents chasing him was considered no big deal.

(Little did he know that the G.I.W actually  _weren't_ a big deal!)

"The G.I.W are given, more or less, free rein with completing their objectives and they can be a bit obsessive," Vance said apologetically before turning back to Gibbs, "I trust you not to repeat a word of this conversation outside of this room. Your case is now in G.I.W's hands, is that clear?"

"Crystal." Gibbs said, although Danny could tell he was a little unsatisfied. He himself felt a little dissatisfied as well, knowing that there was little chance of the G.I.W actually capturing the ghost that did it.  _I guess the case will go cold after all_ , he thought. And he hated it.

**xxxPhantomNCISxxx**

Jack and Maddie had returned to pick up the three teens and take them back to the hotel where they were staying. As Gibbs had predicted, neither Fenton parent was keen on letting the teens wander around Washington D.C after the whole day's fiasco. Maddie was even insistent that they leave the district right away. But, as Sam predicted, the argument that they would be no safer in Amity Park and the mention of all the ghost-fighting weapons they had brought along convinced the adults to let them stay in D.C for one more week. She did not, however, account for the condition that one of the adults, or Jazz, would have to accompany the teens every day. Just in case.

When it came time for the teens to leave, Gibbs felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. He was glad the case was over, as he didn't feel like he wanted to interact with the enigma that was the Ghost Zone any time soon, but he was glad he'd met these kids who were competent enough to get them all out of danger and he was sad to see them go. At least his team was coming away from this case with information about a world they had no idea had existed beforehand, as well as how to combat any threats that it might throw at them in the future, if they ever had the bad luck of coming across a ghost again. 

"So what are your plans for the rest of the week?" he asked Danny as the boy picked up his duffel bag and turned to where his parents were waiting by the elevators.

"We're not exactly sure about the _entire_ week." Danny said, shrugging," We've already seen most of the memorials. Tucker wants to go to the National Spy Museum so he can see all the cool gadgets so we're thinking of doing that tomorrow. Sam also challenged herself to go to all of the Smithsonian museums and, of course, she's dragging us along."

"Hey!" Sam interjected, "I'm not _dragging_ you along. You _at least_ wanted to go to the Air and Space Museum!"

"You are interested in space?" Ziva asked.

Danny blushed a bit. "I want to be an astronaut when I grow up."

"What, is the Ghost Zone not 'otherworldly' enough for you?" Tony teased, leaning in so that Danny's parents couldn't hear.

Danny only smiled in response.

Once all of the goodbyes were said and the bullpen was quiet once more, all four agents returned to their desks, internally heaving a sigh of relief.

"They're good kids," Tony commented, stretching his arms above his head, "But _what_ a case! I never want to have to deal with ghosts again!"

McGee glanced over at his colleague and friend before fixing his eyes on his computer screen, "I still think it's funny that you found yourself in prison mere minutes after arriving in the Ghost Zone."

"That was entirely the crazy warden guy's fault, and you know it!"

"Maybe," Ziva joined in, "Although, I would not be surprised if he arrested you because you annoyed him one too many times."

Tony looked between them with an exaggerated expression of astonishment, "Really? You're going to gang up on me about that?! Can you believe this, boss?"

Gibbs looked up at Tony and quickly decided that he would need to buy himself some coffee if he was going to make it through the rest of the day.


End file.
